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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


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FERDINAND    BRUNETlfeRE 


Of  the  French  Academy 


MANUAL 

of  the   History 


OF 


Translated  from  the  French  by 

Ralph  Derechef 


LONDON 

T.     FISHER     UNWIN 

Paternoster  Square 
1898 


[All  rights  reserved.'] 


PKELIMINAKY   NOTICE 


IN  writing  this  "MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH 
LITERATURE,"  which  is  at  the  same  time,  I  do  not 
venture  to  say  the  promise,  but  at  least  the 
"  programme  "  of  a  more  exhaustive  and  detailed 
"History,"  I  have  given  attention  in  particular 
to  certain  points,  which  will  be  noted  I  hope  ;  but 
as  there  is  a  chance  of  their  being  overlooked — if 
I  have  been  unsuccessful  in  making  them  clear— 
the  reader  will  excuse  my  insisting  upon  them  in 
this  short  preliminary  notice. 

r  In  the  first  place,  to  the  customary  division 
~  into  Centuries,  and  in  each  century  into  Branches 
i^— poetry  set  apart  from  prose ;  comedy  in  one 
section,  the  novel  in  a  second,  "  eloquence "  in 
__a  third — I  have  substituted  the  division  into 
x  Literary  Periods.  For  since  the  periods  of  physics 
dor  those  of  chemistry  are  not  dated  from  the 
h-  transition  from  one  century  to  another,  nor  even 
r-from  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  a  sovereign, 
_what  grounds  are  there  to  date  in  this  way  those 


VI  PRELIMINARY   NOTICE 

of  the  history  of  a  literature  ?  Did  writers  reflect 
in  the  course  of  the  year  1800  that  they  were 
about  to  belong  to  the  nineteenth  century ;  and 
are  we  to  believe  that  they  were  at  pains  to  differ 
from  themselves  in  view  of  the  advent  of  January 
1,  1801  ?  At  the  same  time,  the  division  into 
branches  is  in  nowise  less  artificial  or  less 
arbitrary,  supposing  these  branches  to  become 
differentiated,  after  the  manner  of  species  in  the 
natural  world,  solely  by  the  struggle,  against  one 
another,  to  which  they  are  perpetually  exposed. 
What,  for  instance,  is  tragi-comedy,  if  not  the 
hesitation  of  the  drama  between  the  novel  and 
the  tragedy  ?  And  how  shall  we  perceive  this, 
if  we  separate  the  study  of  the  novel  from  that 
of  tragedy  ?  The  truth  is,  Literary  Periods  ought 
to  be  dated  only  from  what  are  called  literary 
events  1 — the  appearance  of  the  Lettres  provin- 
ciales,  or  the  publication  of  the  Genie  du  CJiristi- 
anisme ; — and  this  is  not  only  in  accordance  with 
reality,  but  is  also  the  only  mode  there  is  of 
giving  the  history  of  a,  literature  that  continuity 
of  movement  and  life  without  which,  in  my 
opinion,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  history. 

In  the  second  place — and  with  a  view  to  making 
this  continuity  still  clearer — I  have  not  omitted 

1  I  would  remark,  however,  that  of  the  other  divisions  in  use  the 
most  natural  would  yet  be  the  division  into  reigns  or  political  periods ; 
and  hi  this  very  book,  for  example,  I  have  sketched  some  of  the 
literary  characteristics  common  to  all  the  regencies  in  French  history. 


PRELIMINARY  NOTICE  Vll 

to  note  those  other  influences  on  which  it  is 
the  habit  to  lay  weight,  the  influence  of  race  or 
the  influence  of  environment ;  however,  as  I  hold 
that  of  all  the  influences  which  make  themselves 
felt  in  the  history  of  a  literature,  the  principal 
is  that  of  works  on  ivories,  I  have  made  it  my 
special  concern  to  trace  this  influence  and  to  follow 
its  continuous  action.  We  wish  to  be  different 
from  those  who  have  preceded  us  in  history :  this 
design  is  the  origin  and  determining  cause  of 
changes  in  taste  as  of  literary  revolutions  ;  there 
is  nothing  metaphysical  about  it.  The  Pleiad  of 
the  sixteenth  century  wished  to  do  "  something 
different  "  from  the  school  of  Clement  Marot. 
Racine  in  his  Andromaque  wished  to  do  "  some- 
thing different ' '  from  Corneille  in  his  Pertharite ; 
and  Diderot  in  his  Pere  de  Famille  wished  to  do 
'"something  different"  from  Moliere  in  his  Tartuffe. 
The  romanticists  of  our  own  time  wished  to  do 
"  something  different  "  from  the  classicists.1  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  I  have  not  concerned  myself 
with  the  other  influences,  except  in  so  far  as  the 
succession  of  periods  is  not  sufficiently  explained 
by  the  influence  of  works  on  works.  The  useless 
multiplication  of  causes  is  to  be  avoided,  and  under 
the  pretext  that  literature  is  the  expression  of 

1  There  have  also  been  writers  who  have  wished  to  do  "  the  same 
thing  "  as  their  predecessors.  I  am  well  aware  of  the  fact !  But  in 
the  history  of  literature  and  of  art,  they  are  precisely  the  writers 
who  do  not  count. 


Viii  PEELIMINARY   NOTICE 

society,  the  history  of  literature  must  not  be 
confounded  with  that  of  manners:  They  are  quite 
distinct. 

Finally — and  for  the  reason  that  neither  origin- 
ality nor  even  genius  consists  in  being  without 
ancestors  or  forerunners,  but  most  often  in  being 
successful  where  many  others  have  failed — I  have 
given  more  attention  to  the  Periods  of  Transition 
than  is  usually  accorded  them.  Is  it  necessary 
to  point  out  in  this  connection,  that  in  spite  of 
all  that  can  be  urged,  "  periods  of  transition " 
exist  ?  And  since  it  is  usual  to  describe  them  in 
natural  history  or  physiology,  why  should  they 
not  be  described  in  the  history  of  literature  ?  Not 
only  do  not  all  periods  offer  the  same  character- 
istics, but  there  are  periods  whose  peculiar  feature 
is  to  be  lacking  in  characteristics.  Able  to  show 
few  lasting  works,  they  are  often  prolific  in  writers 
of  every  class  and  particularly  in  ideas.  Is  it  a 
law  of  the  human  mind  that  it  often  does  not 
perceive  at  the  outset  the  whole  import  of  its 
discoveries  or  of  its  inventions?  In  any  case, 
scarcely  anything  is  seen  to  give  definite  results 
in  literature  or  art  that  has  not  been  frequently 
attempted,  and  in  vain.  Herein,  precisely,  lies 
the  interest  of  the  periods  of  transition.  They 
explain  the  other  periods  because  they  pave  the 
way  for  them,  and  they  are  quite  unexplained  by 
the  other  periods ;  and  in  this  way  they  transform 


PRELIMINARY   NOTICE  IX 

into  a  genealogical  link  the  connecting  link  of 
history,  which  would  otherwise  be  chronological 
or  solely  logical. 

Such  are  the  two  or  three  points  I  have 
endeavoured  to  keep  in  view  in  the  kind  of 
Discourse,  which  forms  something  like  a  half 
of  this  Manual.  I  now  come  to  the  points  to 
which  I  devote  attention  in  the  continuous  Notes 
which  constitute  its  other  half ;  they  should  serve 
the  former  half  as  illustrations  or  proofs. 

I  have  made  a  selection  among  the  writers,  and 
have  only  retained  for  notice  those  of  whom  it 
seemed  to  me  it  could  truly  be  said  that  some- 
thing would  be  wanting  in  the  "  sequence  "  of 
French  literature,  were  they  not  to  be  men- 
tioned. There  are  very  great  writers — not  many, 
but  there  are  two :  Saint- Simon  and  Mme  de 
Sevigne — of  whom  I  have  not  spoken,  because  the 
first  Lettres  de  Mme  de  Sevigne  having  only  seen 
the  light  in  1725  or  perhaps  in  1734,1  and  the 
Memoires  de  Saint-Simon  in  1824,  their  influence 
is  not  sensible  in  history.  A  method  is  a  discipline 
which  must  be  rigorously  observed  if  it  is  to 
render  all  the  services  of  which  it  is  capable. 
On  the  other  hand,  to  other  writers,  to  Honore 

1  I  note  here,  as  an  indication  of  my  method,  that  in  a  more 
exhaustive  history,  I  should  place  towards  1734  what  I  should  have 
to  say  of  the  Lettres  de  Mme  de  Sevigne ;  and  I  should  connect  with 
them  that  ambition  to  figure  as  letter  writers,  which  a  great  number 
of  clever  women  are  seen  to  display  about  the  date  in  question. 


PRELIMINAEY   NOTICE 


d'Urfe  for  example,  I  have  given  more  space  than  is 
usually  accorded  them.  Finally,  there  are  writers 
of  the  stamp  of  Eollin  or  d'Aguesseau  of  whom 
I  have  thought  it  right  to  "  disencumber  "  history. 
It  is  necessary  to  adopt  this  course  when  we  begin 
to  fear  that  the  attention  may  be  growing  wearied, 
and  especially  that  in  consequence  of  this  passing 
under  review  in  triumphal  succession  of  so  many 
authors,  the  notion  of  the  distinctions  and  distances 
that  separate  them  may  end  by  being  abolished. 

Again,  this  book  being  a  Manual — I  would 
almost  say  an  Aid  to  the  Memory — I  have  so 
contrived  these  Notes,  that  each  of  them  in  its 
kind,  and  in  its  rather  narrow  but  also  most  clearly 
denned  scope,  should  be  the  outline  or  "summary" 
of  a  complete  study,  and  naturally  I  have  pro- 
portioned the  dimensions  of  this  study,  as  mathe- 
matically as  I  have  been  able,  to  the  true  importance 
of  the  writer  who  is  its  subject.  I  say  "  mathe- 
matically," because  in  such  a  matter  there  should 
be  no  intrusion  of  one's  personal  tastes;  one  does 
not  write  a  History  of  French  Literature  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  expression  in  it  to  his  own 
opinions,  but,  very  much  as  he  draws  up  the  map 
of  a  large  country,  with  a  view  to  giving  in  it 
a  correct  idea  of  the  relief,  relations  and  propor- 
tions of  the  constituent  parts. 

Further — always  in  order  that  the  book  might 
be  more  useful  and  a  more  efficacious  and  constant 


PRELIMINAEY  NOTICE  XI 

aid — I  have  given  very  special  attention  to  the 
Bibliography  of  the  subject.  Qui  scit  ubi  scientia 
alt,  ille  est  proximus  habenti :  this  old  proverb 
is  never  more  apposite  than  in  connection  with 
literary  history.  In  consequence,  at  the  end  of 
each  of  these  notices  will  be  found  an  almost 
complete  enumeration  of  the  works,  and  of  the 
best  editions,  with  their  dates,  of  the  works  of  each 
writer;  while  the  notices  begin  with  an  enumera- 
tion of  the  principal  sources  of  information  to 
which  reference  can  be  made  if  it  be  desired.  It 
is  even  incumbent  on  the  student  to  refer  to 
these  sources :  first,  because  he  cannot  neglect 
them  without  exposing  himself  to  making  dis- 
coveries that  are  not  discoveries  at  all ;  and  in 
the  next  place,  because  the  very  judgments  formed 
upon  the  works  of  our  writers  by  their  contem- 
poraries and  by  those  who  have  come  after  them 
have  become,  as  it  were,  incorporated  with  the 
idea  we  form  of  them  ourselves.  The  criticism 
of  Boileau,  for  instance,  and  that  of  Voltaire  are 
inseparable  from  the  notion  of  the  tragedy  of 
Eacine.  I  have  also  endeavoured  to  classify  these 
sources,  and  to  arrange  them  in  a  manner  that 
in  itself  constitutes  their  criticism  ;  but  this  classi- 
fication is  still  all  too  imperfect  —  and  for  this 
reason  I  do  not  insist  upon  it. 

It   only  remains   for  me   to   apologise   for  the 
errors  that  it  will  be  only  too  easy  to  point  out 


Xll  PRELIMINARY  NOTICE 

in  this  book.  I  have  spared  no  pains  to  prevent 
there  being  too  many  of  them  of  a  serious  or  of 
a  too  serious  nature,  for  in  a  certain  sense  every 
error  of  fact  or  in  a  date  is  serious  in  a  Manual, 
based,  one  flattered  oneself,  upon  an  exact  chro- 
nology as  its  firm  foundation.  But  how  is  it 
possible  to  verify  thousands  of  dates  and  to  assure 
oneself  of  the  exactitude  of  hundreds  of  facts 
without  the  memory  wearying  and  even  the 
eyesight  being  at  a  loss  ?  I  shall  therefore 
thankfully  accept  all  rectifications  or  corrections 
that  may  kindly  be  brought  to  my  notice.  A 
book  of  this  nature  only  becomes  what  it  is 
susceptible  of  becoming  by  the  lapse  of  time — 
and  owing  mainly  to  the  indulgence  and  collabo- 
ration of  the  public. 

1897. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  ENGLISH  EDITION 


IT  would  doubtless  be  impossible  for  me  to  find 
a  better  or  surer  means  of  inviting  the  indulgence 
of  English  readers  for  the  present  Manual,  than 
to  offer  it  them  for  what  it  is  :  an  application  of 
the  doctrine  of  Evolution  to  the  history  of  a  great 
literature.  In  this  way  the  work  is  placed,  as  it 
were,  under  the  auspices  of  the  great  name  of 
Charles  Darwin,  and  while  it  is  not  for  me  to 
decide  whether  the  illustrious  author  of  the 
"  Origin  of  Species  "  ranks,  as  has  been  main- 
tained, but  little  below  or  perhaps  on  a  level  with 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  in  the  history  of  modern 
European  ideas,  it  is  certain  that  for  some  forty 
years  past  his  influence  is  everywhere  to  be  traced. 
I  shall  be  happy  if  English  readers  see  it  to  be  at 
work  in  the  present  volume. 

It  is  not,  indeed,  that  I  wholly  accept  the 
doctrine  in  question,  and  still  less  the  conse- 
quences that  have  been  deduced  from  it  in 

xiii 


XIV  PEEFACE    TO   THE    ENGLISH   EDITION 

England  itself,  in  Germany  or  in  France.  So  far 
as  I  am  in  a  position  to  judge,  and  I  am  not  a 
man  of  science,  Evolution  is  only  an  hypothesis ; 
the  variability  of  natural  species,  however  probable 
it  may  be,  is  not  what  is  called  proven ;  and 
admitting  selection  to  be  one  of  its  modes  of 
operation  or  factors,  there  are  assuredly  many 
others.  Still,  as  I  myself  have  more  than  once 
remarked,  the  very  serious  objections  that  may  be 
urged,  it  is  said,  against  the  hypothesis  in  the 
domain  of  natural  history,  lose  much  of  their 
weight  when  the  doctrine  is  applied  to  the  history 
of  literature  or  art,  where  it  is  a  method  as  well  as 
a  doctrine.  Even  supposing  that  species  do  not 
vary,  it  would  be  an  advantage  to  natural  history 
to  study  them  as  if  they  did;  and  of  all  the 
classifications  that  have  been  suggested  with  a 
view  to  bringing  home  to  us,  I  do  not  say  the 
spectacle  merely,  but  the  movement  of  nature,  the 
genealogical  classification  is  by  far  the  most  con- 
venient, the  most  probable,  and  above  all  the  most 
in  conformity  with  the  greatest  number  of  facts. 

It  is  from  the  genealogical  standpoint,  then, 
that  I  have  endeavoured  to  study  in  the  history 
of  French  literature  the  perpetually  changing 
succession  of  ideas,  authors  and  works ;  and  if 
there  be  any  novelty  in  this  Manual  it  is  con- 
stituted by  this  attitude. 

I  am  aware  that  serious  objection  is  taken  to 


PREFACE    TO   THE    ENGLISH   EDITION  XV 

the  employment  of  this  method  in  history.  To 
reply  to  many  of  the  objections  made  would 
doubtless  be  beyond  the  scope  of  this  short 
Preface,  but  among  them  is  one  graver,  or 
apparently  graver,  than  the  others,  and  I  must 
not  pass  it  over  entirely.  What,  it  is  said,  is  most 
interesting,  or  solely  interesting  perhaps,  in  the 
history  of  literature  or  art  is  the  individual, 
Shakespeare  or  Moliere,  Milton  or  Bossuet,  Pope 
or  Boileau,  Swift  or  Voltaire,  Burke  or  Mirabeau, 
Tennyson  or  Lamartine,  George  Eliot  or  Honore 
de  Balzac ;  and  I  wholly  share  this  opinion. 
Whether  we  study  these  writers  in  their  works, 
or  whether  in  their  works  it  be  they  themselves 
that  excite  our  preference,  what  interests  us  in 
them  is  what  distinguishes  them  from  all  other 
writers,  or  what  in  them  is  irreducible  and  incom- 
mensurable. In  their  own  line  they  resemble 
themselves  alone,  a  characteristic  that  is  the  cause 
of  their  glory  or  renown.  But  is  not  this  pre- 
cisely the  characteristic  that  no  method  is  capable 
of  dealing  with  ?  and  if  we  treat  the  writers  who 
possess  it  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  the 
evolutionary  hypothesis,  is  it  not  at  the  expense 
of  the  very  originality  that  is  their  pre-eminent 
quality  ?  Do  we  not  rob  them  of  their  indi- 
viduality by  resolving  it  into  its  elements,  and 
make  away  with  their  singularity  when  we 
decompose  it  ?  At  first  sight  it  seems  that  such 


XVI  PREFACE    TO    THE    ENGLISH    EDITION 

is  the  case,  but  Darwin  had  answered  this 
objection  in  advance,  while  inasmuch  as  it  can 
scarcely  be  said  that  he  had  the  exigencies  of  the 
history  of  literature  or  art  in  view  when  framing 
his  reply,  we  have  the  more  right  to  regard  it  as 
convincing. 

What,  according  to  Darwin,  is  Natural  Selec- 
tion, and  what  are  the  conditions  under  which  it 
operates  ?  He  has  told  us  explicitly,  and  indeed 
it  is  the  definition  of  this  power  that  his  disciples, 
in  spite  of  his  express  declarations,  have  so  often 
taken  to  be  a  psychological  Entity.  In  a  given 
species,  among  all  of  whose  representatives  the 
observer  had  hitherto  detected  none  but  almost 
insignificant  differences,  it  is  inevitable  that  there 
should  at  length  appear  a  specimen  better  endowed 
than  its  fellows — a  bull,  for  instance,  with  excep- 
tional horns,  or  a  horse  of  exceptional  swiftness. 
Until  this  better  endowed  individual  has  appeared 
there  is  no  variation,  and  in  consequence  no 
ground  or  adequate  reason  for  the  action  of  natural 
selection.  Neither  "need"  as  Lamarck  believed, 
nor  "  environment "  as  Geoffrey  Saint-Hilaire 
supposed,  is  sufficient.  Something  more  is  indis- 
pensable, and  this  something,  for  which  Darwin 
expressly  states  he  cannot  account,  is  the  appari- 
tion of  the  profitable  or  useful  variety  ;  and  it  is 
precisely  the  fixation  or  consolidation  of  this 
variety  that  constitutes  the  principle  of  Evolution. 


PREFACE   TO   THE    ENGLISH   EDITION  XV11 

Let  us  now  apply  this  theory  to  the  history  of 
literature  or  art.  A  given  variety  of  literature,  for 
instance,  the  English  drama  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  or  the  French  comedy  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  or  the  English  novel  of  the  eighteenth 
century  is  in  process  of  development,  slowly 
organising  itself  under  the  double  influence  of  the 
interior  and  exterior  "  environment."  The  move- 
ment is  slow  and  the  differentiation  almost 
insensible.  Suddenly,  and  without  its  being 
possible  to  give  the  reason,  a  Shakespeare,  a 
Moliere,  or  a  Richardson  appears,  and  forthwith 
not  only  is  the  variety  modified,  but  new  species 
have  come  into  being  :  psychological  drama,  the 
comedy  of  character,  the  novel  of  manners.  The 
superior  adaptability  and  power  of  survival  of  the 
new  species  are  at  once  recognised  and  proved, 
indeed,  in  practice.  It  is  in  vain  that  the  older 
species  attempt  to  struggle  :  their  fate  is  sealed  in 
advance.  The  successors  of  Richardson,  Moliere, 
and  Shakespeare  copy  these  unattainable  models 
until,  their  fecundity  being  exhausted — and  by 
their  fecundity  I  mean  their  aptitude  for  struggling 
with  kindred  and  rival  species — the  imitation  is 
changed  into  a  routine  which  becomes  a  source 
of  weakness,  impoverishment  and  death  for  the 
species.  I  shall  not  easily  be  persuaded  that  this 
manner  of  considering  the  history  of  literature  or 
art  is  calculated  to  detract  from  the  originality 


XV111  PEEFACE    TO   THE    ENGLISH   EDITION 

of  great  artists  or  great  writers.  On  the  contrary, 
as  is  doubtless  perceived,  it  is  precisely  their 
individuality  that  is  responsible  for  the  constitu- 
tion of  new  species,  and  in  consequence  for  the 
evolution  of  literature  and  art. 

Such,  in  my  eyes,  is  the  chief  advantage  of  the 
application  of  the  evolutionary  doctrine  or  method 
to  the  history  of  literature  or  art.  Other  advan- 
tages could  be  enumerated,  but  this  is  the 
principal :  the  combination  or  conciliation  of 
"  hero  worship,"  as  understood  by  Emerson  or 
Carlyle,  with  the  doctrine  of  slowly  operating 
influences  and  the  action  of  contemporary 
circumstances. 

This  is  the  task  I  have  attempted  in  the  present 
Manual,  in  which  those  who  are  interested  in  the 
history  of  French  literature  will  find,  I  trust, 
useful  information,  but  the  true  object  and  primary 
intention  of  which  has  been  to  try  what  results 
are  to  be  obtained  in  criticism  from  a  method 
that  has  renewed  all  around  us  in  the  course  of 
the  last  forty  years.  It  will  be  for  the  reader  to 
decide  whethe*  I  have  been  successful.  But  if 
I  should  have  failed,  it  is  not  the  method  but  I 
myself,  and  I  only,  that  is  to  blame ;  moreover, 
in  laying  down  the  principle,  I  shall  have  given 
the  reader  the  means  of  checking  and  rectifying 
my  work.  "  Neither  Nature  nor  even  God,  it  has 
been  said,  produce  all  their  great  works  at  a 


PREFACE    TO   THE    ENGLISH   EDITION  XIX 

stroke :  a  plan  must  be  made  before  building  is 
commenced,  you  must  draw  before  you  can  paint," 
and  that  this  is  the  case  is  in  absolute  conformity 
with  the  very  spirit  of  the  evolutionary  method. 
It  is  not  in  a  day,  nor  even  in  a  hundred  years,  or 
a  thousand  years,  that  one  given  species  transforms 
or  changes  itself  into  another.  Darwin  was  well 
aware  of  this  truth,  which  he  has  repeated  often 
enough  !  Similarly  in  history  or  criticism,  time, 
a  great  deal  of  time,  is  necessary  for  a  method 
to  render  all  the  services  that  may  rightly  be 
expected  of  it ;  while  one  of  the  worst  errors  it 
is  possible  to  commit  is  to  make  the  method 
responsible  for  the  shortcomings  of  the  author. 

F.  B. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


BOOK   I 

THE    MIDDLE   AGES 
842-1498 

Pages  1-39. 

I.  The  Formation  of  the  French  Language,  p.  1 ;— II.  The  Evo- 
lution of  the  Epopee,  p.  4; — III.  The  Song  Writers,  p.  13;— 
IV.  The  Fabliaux,  p.  17; — V.  Allegorical  Literature,  p.  19;  — 
VI.  The  Farce  de  Pathelin,  p.  27 ;— VII.  Francois  Villon,  p.  29;— 
VIII.  The  Mysteries,  p.  32 ; — IX.  Philippe  de  Commynes,  p.  37. 

BOOK   II 

THE   CLASSIC  AGE 
1498-1801 

•fogies  40-394. 

CHAPTEE  I 

THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL 
1498-1610 

Pages  40-107. 
xxi 


XX11  TABLE    OF   CONTENTS 

FIRST  PERIOD 
From  Villon  to  Ronsard 

1498-1550 

Pages  40-54. 

I.  Clement  Marot,  p.  40;^II.  Marguerite  de  Valois,  p.  42;— III. 
Francois  Rabelais,  p.  44; — IV.  The  Amadis,  p.  50 ;— V.  The  Lyons 
School,  p.  51. 

SECOND  PERIOD 
The  Teachings  of  Antiquity 

1550-1580 

Pages  54-80. 

The  Renaissance  of  Poetry. — I.  The  Formation  of  the  Pleiad, 
p.  54 ; — II.  Joachim  du  Bellay,  p.  56 ;— III.  Pierre  de  Ronsard, 
p.  58 ;— IV.  Jean-Antoine  de  Baif,  p.  62. 

Scholars  and  Translators.— V.  Henri  Estienne,  p.  63;— VI.  Jacques 
Amyot,  p.  66 ;— VII.  Jean  Bodin,  p.  69. 

The  Origin  of  the  Classic  Drama.— VIII.  The  First  Period  of  the 
Classic  Drama,  p.  71 ;— IX.  Robert  G-arnier,  p.  73  ;— X.  The 
Beginnings  of  Comedy,  p.  75 ;— XI.  The  Work  of  the  Pleiad, 
p.  77. 

THIRD  PERIOD 

From  the  Publication  of  Montaigne's  "  Essays  "  to  the 
Publication  of  the  "  Astree  " 

1580-1610 

Pages  80-107. 

Bernard  Palissy,  p.  80;— II.  Francois  de  la  Noue,  p.  82;— III. 
Guillaume  du  Bartas,  p.  84  ;— IV.  Michel  de  Montaigne,  p.  86  \^- 
V.  The  Satire  Menippee,  p.  92 ;— VI.  Pierre  Charron,  p.  93 ;— VII. 
Guillaume  du  Vair,  p.  96 ;— VIII.  Francois  de  Sales,  p.  98 ;— IX 
Mathurin  Regnier,  p.  102  ;— X.  Honore  d'Urfe,  p.  103. 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS  XX111 

CHAPTEE   II 

THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF    FRENCH    LITERATURE 
1610-1722 

Pages  107-281. 

FOURTH  PERIOD 

From  the  Formation  of  the  "Precious"  Society  to  the 
First  Representation  of  the  "  Precieuses  Ridicules  " 

1610-1659 

Pages  107-168. 

I.  The  Hotel  Rambouillet,  p.  107 ;—  II.  Irregulars  and  Libertines, 
p.  113;— III.  Alexandre  Hardy,  p.  116; — IV.  Francois  de  Mal- 
herbe,  p.  118 ;— ^L  Jean-Louis  Guez  de  Balzac,  p.  121  ;— VI. 
Claude  Favre  de  Vaugelas,  p.  125; — VII.  Pierre  Corneille,  p. 
127^VIII.  The  Foundation  of  the  French  Academy,  p.  134  \*- 
IX.  The  Origin  of  Jansenism,  p.  137^-^X.  Rene  Descartes,  p. 
139 ;— XI.  Port-Royal  and  the  Arnaulds,  p.  143 ;— XII.  The  Novel 
since  the  "  Astree,"  p.  145; — XIII.  The  Heroic  Poem,  p.  150;— 
XIV.  Comedy  from  1640  to  1658,  p.  154;— XV.  Burlesque,  p. 
157 ;— XVI.  Blaise  Pascal,  p.  159. 

FIFTH  PERIOD 

From  the  First  Performance  of  the  "  Precieuses  Ridicules" 
to  the  Quarrel  between  the  Ancients  and  Moderns 

1659-1687 

Pages  168-219. 

I 

Francois  due  de  la  Rochefoucauld 

Pages  168-171. 
II 

Jean-Baptiste  Poquelin  de  Moliere 

Pages  171-183.       ./ 


XXIV  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 

III 

Jean  de  la  Fontaine 

Pages  183-191. 

IV 

Jacques-Benigne  Bossuet 
Pages  191-202. 

V 

Jean  Racine 

Pages  203-210.    J 
VI 

Louis  Bourdaloue 

Pages  210-214. 
VII 

Nicolas  Boileau-Despreaux 

Pages  214-219. 

SIXTH  PERIOD 

From  the  Cabal  Organised  against  "  Phedre  "  to  the  issue 
of  the  "Lettres  Persanes" 

1677-1722 

Pages  220-280 

I.  The  Beginnings  of  French  Opera,  p.  220 ;,— II.  Nicolas  Male- 
branche,  p.  222 ;— III.  Pierre  Bayle,  p.  225;— IV.  Fontenelle, 
p.  231 ; — V.  The  Reorganisation  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences, 
p.  236 ;— VI.  Charles  Perrault,  p.  238 ;— VII.  Jean  de  la  Bruyere, 
p.  241 ;— VIII.  Fenelon,  p.  247 ;— JX.  The  Quarrel  between  the 
Ancients  and  Moderns,  p.  255/— X.  Jean-Baptiste  Massillon, 
p.  259  ;— XI.  French  Tragedy  from  1680-1715,  p.  261/j— XII. 
Jean-Baptiste  Rousseau,  p.  265 ; — XIII.  Comedy  from  the  time 
of  Moliere  to  that  of  Destouches,  p.  267  ;— XIV.  Alain-Rene  Le 
Sage,  p.  272  ; — XV.  Mme  de  Lambert's  Salon,  p.  277. 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS  XXV 

CHAPTEE  III 

THE   DEFORMATION   OF  THE  CLASSIC   IDEAL 
1720-1801 

Pages  281-393. 

SEVENTH  PERIOD 

From  the  "  Lettres  Persanes  "  to  the  Publication  of  the 
"  Encyclopedia  " 

1722-1750 

Pages  281-311 

I.  Montesquieu,  p.  281 ;— II.  Marivaux,  p.  287  ;— III.  The  Abbe 
Prevost,  p.  292 ;— IV.  Pierre-Claude  Nivelle  de  la  Chaussee,  p. 
295 ;— V.  The  First  Period  of  Voltaire's  Life,  px>207 ;— VI.  Jean- 
Baptiste  Gresset,  p.  305  ; — VII.  Vauvenargues,  p.  307 ; — VIII. 
Charles  Pineau  Duclos,  p.  309. 

EIGHTH  PERIOD 
The  Encyclopedia  and  the  Encyclopedists 

1750-1765 

Pages  312-333. 

I.  The  Early  Phases  of  the  Undertaking,  p.  314 ;— II.  Jean  Le 
Rond  d'Alembert,  p.  316  ;— III.  Denis  Diderot,  p.  317 ;— IV.  The 
First  Difficulties  Encountered  by  the  Encyclopedia,  p.  319  ; — 
V.  The  Second  Period  of  Voltaire's  Life,  p.  320 ;— VI.  After  the 
Suppression  of  the  Encyclopedia,  p.  325  ; — VII.  Claude-Adrien 
Helvetius,  p.  327 ;— VIII.  Frederic-Melchior  Grimm,  p.  328  ;— IX. 
The  Encyclopedic  Propaganda,  p.  329. 

NINTH  PERIOD 

From  the  "  Encyclopedia "  to  the  "  Genie  du 
Christianisme  " 

1765-1800 

Pages  333-393. 

I.  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau,  p.  333;— II.  Michel-Jean  Sedaine,  p. 
349 ;— III.  The  Last  Period  of  Voltaire's  Life,  p.  351 ;— IV.  The 


XXVI  TABLE    OF   CONTENTS 

Economists,  p.  361 ; — V.  Pierre- Augustine  Caron  de  Beau- 
marchais,  p.  365 ;— VI.  The  End  of  Tragedy,  p.  368 ;— VII.  Andre- 
Marie  de  Chenier,  p.  372 ;— VIII.  Buffon,  p.  377 ;— IX.  Condorcet, 
p.  385 ;— X.  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre,  p.  388. 

BOOK   III 

MODERN    TIMES 

1801-1875 

Pages  394-531. 

FIRST  PERIOD 

From  the  Publication  of  the  "  Genie  du  Christianisme  " 
to  the  First  Performance  of  the  "  Burgraves " 


J 


1802-1843 

Pages  394-448. 

I.  Chateaubriand,  p.  394;— II.  Mme  de  Stae'l,  p.  401;— III.  The 
Ideologists,  p.  405; — IV.  M.  de  Bonald,  p.  407;— V.  Joseph  de 
Maistre,  p.  408 ;— VI.  Paul-Louis  Courier,  p.  412 ; — VII.  Beranger, 
p.  414  ;— VIII.  Lamennais,  p.  419  ;— IX.  Stendhal,  p.  424 ;— X. 
Lamartine,  p.  428  ; — XI.  The  Sorbonne  Triumvirate,  p.  434 ; — 
XII.  Augustin  Thierry,  p.  437  ;— XIII.  Romantic  Drama,  p. 
438;— XIV.  Alfred  de  Musset,  p.  441;— XV.  Prosper  Merimee, 
p.  444 ;— XVI.  Alexis  de  Tocqueville,  p.  446. 

SECOND  PEEIOD 

From  the  Performance  of  the  "  Burgraves  "  to  the  Publi- 
cation of  the  "Legende  des  Siecles" 

1843-1859 

Pages  449-489. 

I 

Honore  de  Balzac 

Pages  449-460.^/ 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  XXV11 

II 

Michelet 

Pages  460-465. 
Ill 

Victor  Hugo 

Pages  465-478 

IV 
George  Sand 

Pages  478-483. 

V 

Charles-Augustin  Sainte-Beuve 

Pages  483-489} 

THIBD  PERIOD 
Naturalism 

Pages  489-531. 

I.  Alfred  de  Vigny,  p.  489;— II.  Theophile  Gautier,  p.  493;— III. 
Emile  Augier,  p.  497 ;— IV.  Octave  Feuillet,  p.  501 ;— V.  Leconte 
de  Lisle,  p.  504 ;— VI.  English  Influence,  p.  507 ;— VII.  Gustave 
Flaubert,  p.  509  ;— VIII.  Taine,  p.  513 ;— IX.  Ernest  Renan,  p. 
517  ;— X.  Charles  Baudelaire,  p.  525  ;— XI.  German  Influence, 
p.  524 ;— XII.  Alexandre  Dumas  fils,  p.  525. 


OF 


BOOK    I 

THE     MIDDLE    AGES 
I 

"  I  have  had  occasion — a  philosophic  historian  has 
somewhere  said — to  study  the  political  institutions  of 
the  Middle  Ages  in  France,  England,  and  Germany ; 

THE    AUTHORS    AND    THEIE    WORKS 
I.— The  Formation  of  the  French  Language. 

1.  THK  SOURCES. — Amedee  Thierry,  Histoire  des  Gaulois,  and 
Histoire  (le  la  Gaule  sous  la  domination  romainc; — Roger  de  Bello- 
guet,  Ethnologic  gauloise,  Paris,  1861-1868 ; — Fustel  de  Coulanges, 
Histoire  des  Institutions  politiques  de  I'ancienne  France,  vol.  i.,  2nd 
edition,  Paris,  1887. 

G.  Korting,  Encyclopaedic  und  Methodologie  der  romanischen 
1'liilologie,  Heilbronn,  1884-1886; — G.  Grober,  Grundriss  der  roman- 
ischen Philologie,  Strasburg,  1888-1896. 

Raynouard,  Lexique  roman,  Paris,  1838-1844 ; — Edelestand  du 
Meril :  Exsai  philosophique  sur  la  formation  de  la  langue  fran- 

2  i 


2   MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

and  as  I  advanced  with  this  work,  I  was  filled  with 
astonishment  on  noting  the  prodigious  similarity  that 
is  to  be  met  with  in  all  these  laws;  and  I  admired  the 
fact,  that  peoples  so  different  and  communicating  so 
little  with  each  other  should  have  been  able  to  assure 
themselves  laws  so  alike."  [Tocqueville,  L'Ancien  Regime 
et  la  Revolution,  book  i.,  chap,  iv.]  The  same  admiration 
or  the  same  astonishment  is  inspired  by  an  attentive  study 
of  the  European  literature  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Nothing 
is  so  similar  to  a  Chanson  de  geste  as  another  Chanson 
de  geste,  while  as  much  may  be  said  of  the  likeness  of 
one  Romance  of  the  Bound  Table  to  another  Romance 
of  the  Round  Table,  of  one  Tale  to  another  Tale,  or 
finally,  of  one  Mystery  Play  to  another  Mystery  Play ; 
and  two  drops  of  water  are  not  more  alike,  or,  to  use 
a  better  comparison,  two  classic  tragedies  or  two  natu- 
ralistic novels.  At  a  first  examination  one  may  fancy  he 

caise,  Paris,  1852 ; — F.  Diaz :  Grammaire  des  langues  romanes, 
translated  into  French  by  Gaston  Paris  and  Morel-Fatio,  3rd  edition, 
Paris,  1874-1876 ;  —  W.  Meyer-Liibke,  Grammaire  des  langues 
romanes,  translated  by  Rabiet  and  Doutrepont,  Paris,  1890-1895 ; — 
the  Historical  Grammars  of  Darmesteter,  Brunot,  Etienne,  Schwan, 
and  Behrens ; — the  Etymological  Dictionaries  of  Diez,  Scheler, 
Korting  ; — and  the  Historical  Dictionaries  of  Forcellini  for  Classical 
Latin ;  du  Cange  for  Low  Latin ;  La  Curne  Sainte-Palaye  and  F. 
Godefroy  for  Old  French. 

2.  THE  SUCCESSIVE  ELEMENTS  OF  THE  FRENCH  LANGUAGE. 

A.  The  Celtic  element ; — and  of  the  difficulty  of  determining  its 
nature  at  the  present  day  ; — especially  if  the  Celtic  languages  and  the 
Latin  language  are  themselves  sister  languages.  [Cf.  Thurneysen, 
Kelto-BomaniscJies ;  and  Zeuss,  Grammatica  celtica.~\  —  That  if 
the  influence  of  the  Celtic  element  is  to  be  traced  in  French, 
this  would  seem  to  be  less  the  case  in  the  vocabulary  than 
in  the  syntax  ; — and  perhaps  still  less  in  the  syntax  than  in  the 
pronunciation.— Considerations  on  this  subject ;  and  of  the  influence 
of  the  conformation  of  the  organs  or  of  the  nature  of  the  water, 
atmosphere,  and  locality  upon  pronunciation.  —  That  though  the 


THE   MIDDLE   AGES  3 

detects  differences,  but  when  it  comes  to  endeavouring 
to  point  them  out  with  precision,  they  disappear,  and  the 
uniformity  is  complete.  It  would  seem,  in  consequence, 
that  in  the  Middle  Ages,  a  common  mode  of  thinking 
and  feeling,  enforced  throughout  Europe  by  the  triple 
authority  of  religion,  the  feudal  system,  and  scholasticism, 
kept  under  and  indeed  destroyed  in  literature  all  distinc- 
tions of  origin,  race,  and  individuality. 

Quis  primus  /  .  .  .  What  is  the  origin  of  the  Chansons 
de  geste ;  and  of  our  Romans  de  la  Table-Eonde  ?  Is  their 
fountain-head  Romance  or  Germanic  ?  or  Celtic,  perhaps, 
unless  it  is  to  be  held,  like  that  of  our  Fabliaux,  to 
be  Arab  or  Hindoo?  The  truth  is,  we  are  wholly  in  the 
dark  on  the  subject.  This  literature  is  without  docu- 
ments establishing  its  identity.  [Cf .  Pio  Eajna,  Le  Origini 
delV  Epopea  francese,  Florence,  1884.]  To  say  this, 
moreover,  does  not  suffice,  and  even  when  we  know  that 

Celtic  influence  be  ill-defined,  still  it  cannot  be  explained  away  ; — and 
in  its  absence  it  would  be  impossible  to  explain  the  differentiation  of 
French,  Spanish,  and  Italian. 

B.  The    Latin    element.  —  Literary    Latin   and   vulgar    Latin ;  — 
conquest  and   "  Bomanisation  "    of  Gaul;  —  futility  of  "patriotic" 
arguments   in    this    connection.      [Cf.    Granier   de   Cassagnac,   Les 
Origincs  de  la  langue  francaise.]  — The  hypothesis  of  Baynouard  as 
to  the  formation  of  a  "Romance  language"  intermediary  between 
Low  Latin  or  vulgar  Latin  and  the  New  Latin  languages ; — to  what 
extent  it  can  be  upheld ; — and,  in  any  case,  of  the  convenience  it  offers. — 
Deformation  or  transformation  of  vulgar  Latin  by  local  accents ; — and 
by  the  sole  effect  of  time. — Provincial  linguistic  peculiarities  :  dialects 
and  patois. 

C.  The  Germanic  element ; — and  in  the  first  place  the  conditions 
under  which  the  "  barbaric  invasions  "  took  place.      [Cf.  Fustel  de 
Coulanges,  Histoire  des  Institutions,  etc.] — How  and  why  it  was  that 
the  "  Germanisation  "  of  Gaul  could  not  follow  its  "  Bomanisation," 

Gallia  capta  ferum  victorem  cepit  .  .  . 
Of  certain  categories  of  ideas  and  words  that  seem  to  have  passed 


4      MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

a  particular  Tale  or  Mystery  saw  the  light  for  the  first 
time  in  France  or  in  Italy,  it  is  in  vain  that  we  endeavour 
to  recognise  in  it  the  marks  of  its  origin,  a  local  impress, 
in  a  word,  one  of  those  "racial"  characteristics  to  the 
psychological  or  aesthetic  determination  of  which  the 
attempt  has  too  often  been  made  in  our  time  to  reduce 
the  whole  history  of  literature.  In  the  same  way  there 
is  nothing  more  French  about  a  Gothic  cathedral — opus 
francigenum — in  Paris  than  in  Cologne,  or  more  German 
about  one  in  Cologne  than  about  one  in  Canterbury. 
And,  in  truth,  the  "  races  "  of  modern  Europe  merely 
represent  historical  formations,  whose  literatures  are  less 
their  expression  than  one  of  their  multiple  "  factors." 
Whether  we  be  Germans  or  Frenchmen,  Italians, 
Spaniards  or  Englishmen,  in  literature  and  art  as  in 
history  and  politics,  we  have  all  been  nations  prior  to 
developing  into  "  races."  But  before  being  nations  we 

from  the  German  tongues  into  French  [Cf.  Gaston  Paris,  Litte- 
rature  francaise  au  Moyen  Age]  ; — terms  relating  to  warfare, — archi- 
tectural terms, — maritime  terms,  etc. — Whether  the  conclusion  can 
be  drawn  from  these  indications,  that  the  Germanic  element  has  left 
a  deep  impression  on  the  French  language  ? 

3.  THE  EARLIEST  SPECIMENS  OF  THE  LANGUAGE. — The  Gloses  de 
Reichenau,  seventh  and  eighth  centuries ; — The  Serments  de  Stras- 
bourg, 842 ; — the  Prose  -de  Saintc  Eulalic,  c.  880  ; — the  Homelie  sur 
Jonas,  first  half  of  the  tenth  century ; — the  Passion  and  the  Vie  de 
saint  Leger,  second  half  of  the  tenth  century ; — the  Vie  de  saint 
Alexis,  c.  1040. 

II.— The  Evolution  of  the  Epopee. 

1.  THE  SOURCES.' — Christoforo  Nyrop,  Storia  delV  Epopea  fran- 
cese  nel  media  evo,  translated  from  the  Danish  by  Egidio  Gorra, 
Florence,  1886 ;  —  Pio  Eajna,  Le  origini  dell'  Epopea  francese, 
Florence,  1884 ; — Leon  Gautier,  Les  Epopees  francaises,  Paris,  2nd 

1  As  in  the  notes  to  this  first  chapter,  we  do  not  follow — and  for  obvious  reasons 
— the  chronological  order,  but  rather  a  systematic  order,  we  shall  follow  this  order 
as  well  in  the  enumeration  of  the  Sources,  and  we  are  less  concerned  with  the  date 
of  publication  of  the  works  than  with  the  nature  of  their  contents. 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  5 

all  formed  but  one  homogeneous,  indivisible,  and,  if  the 
term  be  permissible,  inarticulate  Europe — feudal  Europe, 
the  Europe  of  the  Crusades ; — and  this  is  why  the  primary 
characteristic  of  the  French  literature  of  the  Middle  Ages 
is  its  uniformity. 

Being  uniform,  it  is  also  impersonal.  By  this  is  to 
be  understood  that  at  no  period  has  a  writer  put  less  of 
his  individuality  into  his  work.  It  may  be  said  that 
almost  all  our  Chansons  might  be  by  the  same  poet  and 
all  our  Metrical  Tales  by  the  same  narrator.  Even  when 
we  know  the  authors,  the  works  are  none  the  less  always 
anonymous,  after  the  manner,  let  us  say,  of  the  tragedies 
of  La  Harpe — which  might  be  by  Marmontel,  and  vice 
versa.  Is  it  that  prevented  from  emancipating  himself 
from  his  social  rank  by  the  pressure,  the  number,  and  the 
enduring  constraint  of  the  obligations  that  bind  him  down 
to  it,  "the  individual,"  serf  or  lord,  clerk  or  layman, 

edition,  1878-1894 ; — Paulin  Paris,  Les  Chansons  de  Geste,  in  I'Histoire 
litteraire  de  la  France,  especially  vols.  xxii.  and  xxv. ; — Godefroi 
Kurth,  Histoire  poetique  des  Merovingiens,  Brussels,  1893 ; — Gaston 
Paris,  Histoire  poetique  de  Charlemagne,  Paris,  1865; — Ambroise- 
Firmin  Didot,  Essai  de  classification  des  romans  de  chevalerie,  Paris, 
1870. 

Leopold  Constans,  Le  roman  de  Thebes,  Paris,  1890 ; — Joly,  Benoit 
de  Sainte-More  et  le  roman  de  Troie,  Paris,  1870; — Paul  Meyer, 
Alexandre  le  Grand  dans  la  litterature  du  Moyendge,  Paris,  1886 ; 
— Arturo  Graf,  Roma  nella  memoria  e  nelle  immaginazioni  del 
•inedio  evo,  Turin,  1882. 

Paulin  Paris,  Les  Romans  de  la  Table-Ronde,  Paris,  1868-1877 ; 
— Birch-Hirschfeld,  Die  Sage  vom  Gral,  Leipsic,  1877  ; — Alfred  Nutt, 
Study  on  the  Legend  of  tlie  Holy  Grail,  London,  1888 ; — Gaston 
Paris,  Les  Romans  de  la  Table-Ronde,  in  the  Histoire  litteraire  de  la 
France,  vol.  xxx. ; — J.  Bedier,  Les  Lais  de  Marie  de  France,  in  the 
Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  October  15,  1891. 

2.  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  EPOPEE. 

A.  The  Heroic  Epopee. — Various  forms  of  the  epopee : — the  Maha- 
bahrata ;  the  Homeric  Epopee ;  the  Virgilian  Epopee ;  the  Niebe- 


6   MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOKY  OP  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

monk  or  baron,  does  not  belong  to  himself  ?  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  his  order  or  his  class  before  being  himself  ? 
lacks  at  once  the  liberty,  the  leisure,  and  the  stimulus  he 
would  need  to  venture  to  distinguish  himself  from  others? 
The  man  who  desires  to  be  distinct  from  his  fellows 
can  only  effect  his  purpose  by  isolating  himself  as  a  first 
step ;  and  the  man  of  the  Middle  Ages  does  not  seem  to 
have  thought  or  even  to  have  felt  except  as  it  were 
corporately,  as  the  member  of  a  group  or  a  mass.  It  is 
doubtless  to  this  cause  that  is  to  be  attributed  the  poverty 
of  the  lyrical  vein  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Herein,  too, 
lies  in  particular  the  explanation  of  that  total  absence  of 
all  artistic  preoccupation,  which  has  been  disguised  under 
the  specious  terms  "  spontaneity  "  or  "  naivete."  "The 
men  of  this  period,"  it  has  been  said,  "  are  less  given  to 
reflection  than  we  are ;  they  do  not  observe  themselves, 
they  live  naively  like  children."  [Cf.  Gaston  Paris,  La 

lungen  ;  the  Epopee  of  Dante  ;  the  French  Epopee ;  the  Gerusalemme 
liberata. — That  at  its  origin  the  essence  of  the  epopee  seems  to 
be : — 1,  the  having  an  historical  foundation,  or  a  foundation  believed 
to  be  historical ; — 2,  the  poetising  of  a  conflict  not  merely  between 
"  nationalities,"  but  between  "  races  " ; — 3,  and  the  personification  of 
the  triumph  of  one  of  these  races  over  the  other  in  an  "  eponymous  " 
hero. — That  these  characteristics  once  admitted,  there  can  scarcely 
be  question  of  a  Merovingian  epopee ; — and  that  a  knowledge  of 
what  were  the  "  cantilenes  "  or  vulgaria  carmina  that  are  supposed 
to  have  preceded  the  national  epopee  becomes  almost  a  matter  of 
indifference. — Further,  there  is  no  occasion  to  examine  whether  the 
French  epopee  is  of  "  Romance  "  or  "  Germanic  "  origin; — and  still 
less,  to  make  the  question  one  of  patriotism. — The  precise  moment 
of  the  birth  of  the  French  epopee  is  that  of  the  encounter  or  shock 
of  the  East  and  West,  of  Islamism  and  Christianity,  of  the  Arab  and 
the  Frank; — it  is  personified  to  begin  with  in  Charles  Martel, 
who  was  confounded  at  a  later  period  with  his  grandson  Charle- 
magne;— and  that  in  this  way  it  can  even  be  said  "where"  our 
Chansons  de  geste  came  into  existence  :  it  was  on  the  battle-field 
of  Poitiers. 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  7 

Poesie  du  Moyen-Age] .  And  this  remark  is  justified  !  At 
the  same  time,  like  children,  they  only  experienced  very 
general  or  "typical"  sentiments,  whose  expression  is  as 
general  as  are  the  sentiments  themselves  ;  and  art  is  pre- 
cisely an  individual  matter.  What  distinguishes  one 
painter  from  another  is  the  different  light  in  which  each 
of  them  sees  the  same  model.  The  Middle  Ages,  for 
their  part,  scarcely  went  further  at  first  than  noting 
what  was  similar  or  identical  in  the  model.  In  their 
view  all  men  resembled  each  other,  much  as  in  our 
eyes  all  negroes  or  Chinamen  are  alike.  And  in  reality 
what  is  it  diversifies  human  countenances,  and  by 
diversifying  them  individualises  them,  unless  it  be  the 
reflection  on  them  of  an  inward  complexity,  of  a  richness 
or  of  an  intensity  of  life  unknown  to  the  men  of  the 
Middle  Ages '?  Their  literature  in  consequence  is  very 
general,  is  wanting  in  individual  significance  and  also  in 

How  from  these  characteristics  of  the  epopee  proper  it  is  possible 
to  divide  off  its  history. — This  history  must  have  begun  with  the 
songs  of  the  Cycle  of  the  King,  with  those,  that  is,  of  which  Charle- 
magne is  the  hero  [Ex.  the  Chanson  de  Roland] ; — to  which  succeeded 
the  songs  of  the  Cycle  de  Garin  de  Montglane  [Ex.  the  Chanson 
<!' AUscans] ,  whose  heroes  continue  the  struggle  between  the  great 
Emperor  and  the  Saracen ; — next  came  the  songs  of  the  Feudal 
Cycle  [Ex.  Renaud  de  Montauban]  the  heroes  of  which  are  the  barons 
in  revolt  against  a  royal  authority  that  has  ceased  to  fulfil  its  office. — 
It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  songs  of  this  last  cj-cle  coincided  with  the 
waning  of  the  fortunes  of  Islam. — To  the  same  period  should  also 
belong  the  songs  that  show  us  the  different  nationalities  struggling 
with  one  another  [Ex.  the  Chanson  de  Garin  le  Loherain} ; — and 
the  genealogical  poems  [Ex.  Les  Enfances  Guillaumc\ ,  whose  object 
is  to  give  the  heroes  a  birth  and  beginnings,  whose  marvels  shall 
befit  the  greatness  of  their  exploits. — A  comparison  between  the 
poems  of  this  order  and  the  cyclic  poems  of  Greek  poetry; — and 
the  Semitic  "  genealogies." — That  the  later  of  our  Chansons  de  geste 
are  already,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  literary  epopees ; — not 
less  artificial  than  at  another  period,  a  Henriade  or  a  Petreide ; — 


8   MANUAL  OP  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

local  significance,  and  this  is  what  is  meant  when  its 
impersonal  character  is  insisted  on. 

Finally — and  in  comparison  with  the  rapid  succession 
of  artistic  ideas  and  of  forms  of  art  in  our  modern  lite- 
ratures, and  especially  in  contemporary  literatures — the 
immobility  of  the  literature  of  the  Middle  Ages  constitutes 
its  remaining  characteristic.  For  it  is  not  only  from  one 
end  of  Europe  to  the  other  that  one  Chanson  de  geste 
resembles  another  Chanson  de  geste,  or  one  Mystery  Play 
another  Mystery  Play,  but  it  is  also  from  one  century  to 
another  century,  and  from  the  time  of  good  King  Robert 
to  that  of  Saint  Louis.  Such  differences  as  there  are  be- 
tween the  Chanson  de  Roland,  which  is  dated  from  the 
year  1080,  and  that  of  Raoul  de  Cambrai,  which  is 
held  to  have  been  written  towards  1220,  being  scarcely 
more  than  "philological"  differences,  are  only  apparent 
to  the  erudite.  Let  us  make  this  point  clear.  If  the 

but  with  the  reappearance  of  the  cause,  a  really  genuine  inspiration 
is  once  that,  simultaneously  more  to  be  found  in  the  songs  that 
form  the  Cycle  of  the  Crusades  [Ex.  the  Chanson  du  chevalier  au 
Cygne] . 

It  is  almost  directly  afterwards  that  history  proper  begins  to  diffe- 
rentiate itself  from  the  epopee : — Geoffroi  de  Villehardouin  and  the 
Conquete  de  Constantinople,  1210-1215; — the  "epic"  circumstances 
of  the  event,  and  the  "  epic  "  turn  of  the  narrative  ; — comparison,  in 
this  connection,  between  the  evolution  of  the  French  epopee  and  that 
of  the  Greek  epopee : — the  author  of  the  Conquete  de  Constantinople 
is  to  the  author  of  the  Chanson  de  Roland  what  Herodotus  is  to 
Homer. — To  affect  to  find  "epic"  characteristics  in  the  Sire  de 
Joinville's  Vis  de  Saint  Louii  (1275)  would  be  more  arbitrary — and 
yet,  if  St.  Louis  is  its  hero,  may  it  not  be  said  that  this  hagiography 
is  the  veritable  Christian  epopee  ? — or  if  the  hero  is  Joinville  himself, 
then  the  work  is  already  history  in  the  form  of  autobiography. — 
The  characteristics  of  the  epopee  are  to  be  found,  struggling  as  it 
were  with  those  of  history,  in  Froissart's  Chroniques.  The  trouvere 
Cuvelier's  Chronique  de  Bertrand  du  Guesclin ; — and  the  Geste  des 
Bourguignons,  "  which  closes  the  series  of  poems  in  single-rhymed 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  9 

date  of  the  Cid  or  of  Horace  were  not  known,  one 
would  have  to  be  blind  not  to  see  that  Britannicus  or 
Bajazet  are  certainly  posterior  to  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Chronique  de  Bertrand  du  Guesclin  by  the 
trouvere  Cuvelier,  although  it  be  more  insipid  than  the 
Chanson  de  Renaud  de  Montauban,  resembles  the  latter 
work  far  more  than  it  differs  from  it.  In  both  there  is 
the  same  heroic  matter  and  the  mode  of  treating  it  is  the 
same.  [Cf.  Paulin  Paris,  Histoire  litteraire  de  la  France, 
vol.  xxiii.]  It  is  clear  that  the  hours  slip  by  more  slowly 
in  those  days  than  in  ours — much  more  slowly,  at  a 
lazier  pace  ;  life  is  not  so  fast,  and  since  it  is  not  on 
this  account  intenser  or  more  individual,  the  result  is 
that  if  a  silent  travail  is  in  progress  in  the  depths 
of  this  immobility,  there  is  no  trace  of  it  at  first  on 
the  surface. 

Still  the  quickening  process  is  nevertheless  going  on, 

stanzas,"— take  us  from  this  point  to  the  threshold  of  the  fifteenth 
century. 

B.  The  Ancient  Epopee ; — and  that  this  name  ought  not  to  be  given 
to  "romances  of  adventure"  which  offer  none  of  the  characteristics 
of  the  epopee ; — the  Roman  d'Alexandre  le  Grand  and  the  Roman  de 
Troie  are  the  Trois  Mousquetaires  or  the  Quar  ante -Cinq  of  their 
time ; — which  amounts  to   saying  that   the  Middle  Ages  were  only 
alive    to    the   "marvellous"   or   the   "surprising"    element   in   the 
legends  of  antiquity  ; — and  that  in  this  sense  the  epopees  inspired  by 
antiquity,  together  with  the  least  historical  of  our  chansons  de  geste 
serve  as  stepping  stones  to  the  Romans  de  la  Table  lionde. 

C.  Tlie  Romantic  Epopee. — Whether  the  origin  of  the  romantic 
epopee  is  to  be  sought  for  hi  a  transformation  of  manners ; — and,  in 
this  connection,  of  the  contrast  between  the  Courteous  Epopee  and 
the  National  Epopee. — That  the  true  origin  of  the  romantic  epopee  is 
in  the  differentiation  of  the  elements  of  the  national  epopee ; — the 
authentic  element  of  which  has  become  history ; — while  the  marvel- 
lous, symbolical   and  mythical  element   has   become  the  novel   of 
adventure. — Sources  of  the  Romances  of  the  Round  Table. — The  His- 
toria  Begum  Britannia  by  Geoffrey  of  Momuouth,  1135,  and  his  Vita 


10  MANUAL  OP  THE  HISTORY  OF  FEENCH  LITERATURE 

and  this  is  the  occasion  to  remark  that,  as  is  the  case 
with  that  impersonality  or  that  uniformity  already 
referred  to,  so  this  immobility  is  and  can  only  be  merely 
relative.  There  is  nothing  absolute  in  history.  Indeed, 
let  us  add  here  that  the  great  historical  interest  of  the 
literature  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  due  to  the  fact  that  this 
literature  was  not  hurried  or  interfered  with  in  its  move- 
ment by  any  intervention  from  without  or  any  individual 
caprice.  It  developed  slowly,  but  it  developed  upon  its 
own  soil,  there  where  it  sprang  up,  so  to  speak,  and  in 
conformity  with  its  nature.  The  philologists  teach  us 
that  the  language  of  Joinville  and  of  Guillaume  de  Loris 
— the  language  of  the  Vie  de  Saint  Louis  and  of  the 
first  part  of  the  Roman  de  la  Rose — less  rich  assuredly, 
less  coloured,  less  supple,  less  subtle,  and  less  refined 
than  our  own,  was  yet,  in  a  certain  sense,  nearer  to 
its  perfection,  because  it  was  more  logical ;  and  by 

Merlini. — The  Geste  des  Bretons  or  Roman  de  Brut,  by  Wace 
[translation  in  verse  of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth],  1155. — Constitution 
of  the  Cycle  of  Arthur. — The  lais  of  Marie  of  France. — Beroul's 
Tristan. — Other  "Anglo-Norman"  tales. — The  connection  between 
the  adventures  of  Tristan  and  other  Gallic  heroes  and  the  Cycle  of 
Arthur. — Crestien  de  Troyes  draws  upon  the  matter  offered  by  Brit- 
tany ; — and  it  is  here  that  it  is  possible  to  trace  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  mediaeval  literature  the  influence  of  talent  upon  the 
transformation  of  a  literature. 

General  characteristics  of  the  romantic  epopee ; — and  that  they 
are  neither  those  of  the  heroic  epopee, — nor  those  of  the  poetry  of 
Provence : — (1)  the  marvellous  in  these  epopees  is  not  that  of  sunny 
countries,  and  the  same  is  to  be  said  of  their  background ; — (2)  the 
adoration  at  once  mystic  and  sensual  of  which  woman  is  the  object 
in  them  in  no  way  resembles  that  which  is  met  with  in  the  songs  of  the 
troubadours; — (3)  passion  in  them  is  distinguished  by  a  tenderness 
and  depth  it  presents  nowhere  else ; — (4)  and  as  a  whole  they  are 
enshrouded  in  a  veil  of  melancholy  or  even  of  sadness  about  which 
there  is  assuredly  nothing  meridional. — Other  characteristics  dis- 
tinguish our  romantic  epopee  to  an  equal  extent  from  Arabian  poetrj' ; 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  11 

this  they  mean  that  it  was  in  closer  conformity  with 
the  organic  evolution  of  languages.  And  the  truth  is 
that  no  great  writer,  whether  prose  writer  or  poet,  had 
ventured  as  yet  to  disturb  its  development.  The  evolu- 
tion of  the  literature  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  a  similar 
case,  and  is  all  the  more  instructive  for  the  very  reason 
that  it  was  logical.  We  have  now  to  see  how  this  evolu- 
tion took  place. 


II 


It  has  sometimes  been  asserted  that  it  began  with 
lyrical  poetry  ;  and  without  going  back  to  those  songs, 
of  which  Salvin  relates  that  they  served  our  forefathers 
as  a  consolation  in  their  afflictions — cantilinis  infortunia 

— in  spite  of  its  having  been  alleged  that  the  Arabs  were  the  initia- 
tors of  "chivalry." — Its  inspiration  is  also  different  to  that  of  the 
Niebelungen. — At  bottom  the  inspiration  of  the  Romances  of  the 
Round  Table  is  Celtic. 

How  their  origin  explains  their  success  by  their  novelty. — The  long 
influence  of  the  Romans  de  la  Table-Ronde ; — their  diffusion  abroad  ; 
— the  compilation  of  Rusticien  of  Pisa,  1270 ; — Italian,  German, 
Netherland,  English,  Spanish  and  Portuguese  translations,  continua- 
tions and  imitations. — The  Parsifal  of  Wolfram  of  Escheiibach  and 
the  Tristan  et  Iseult  of  Gottfried  of  Strasburg. — Reciprocal  penetra- 
tion of  the  Cycle  of  Arthur  and  of  the  Cycle  of  the  Crusades. — Prose 
versions  are  made  of  the  most  ancient  Romans  de  la  Table-Ronde  ; — 
original  works  of  this  class  are  written  in  prose,  for  instance,  Merlin, 
the  Grand  Saint  Graal,  etc. ; — in  this  new  shape  they  become  the 
source  of  inspiration  of  the  Amadis ; — and  thus,  through  them,  con- 
nect the  modern  "  novel"  and  classical  literature  with  the  literature 
and  romance  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  complete  list  of  our  Chansons  de  gestc  will  be 
found  in  the  work  by  M.  C.  Nyrop  cited  above ;  and  in  M.  G.  Paris' 
article  in  the  Histoire  litter aire  de  la  France,  vol.  xxx.,  an  analysis 


12  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FEENCH  LITEEATURE 

sua  solantur, — we  are  told  of  "  cantilenes  "  of  which  our 
great  epopees  are  alleged  to  be  only  the  reunion  and 
development.  There  is,  however,  nothing  lyrical  what- 
ever about  these  cantilenes,  and  an  effort  to  discern 
their  nature  shows  them  to  be,  properly  speaking, 
merely  diffuse  epopee,  epopee  that  is  not  as  yet,  that 
is  about  to  be,  but  is  already  epopee.  They  aspire  to 
form  a  composite  whole ;  and  with  us,  as  formerly  in 
Greece,  it  may  be  said  with  truth  that  they  have  no 
raison  d'etre  except  in  virtue  of  and  as  forming  a  part 
of  the  epopee  they  are  one  day  to  become.  The  epopee, 
then,  must  be  our  starting-point. 

At  first,  as  once  more  was  the  case  in  Greece,  it  was 
simply  history,  supposing  it  to  be  beyond  doubt  that  the 
men  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  as  convinced  of  the  reality 
of  the  exploits  of  Koland  as  of  the  existence  of  Philip 
Augustus  or  of  Saint  Louis.  Are  not  children  convinced 

of  most  of  the  romances  in  verse  that  are  allied  to  the  Breton  Cycle 
We  refer  the  reader  to  these  works,  and  content  ourselves  here  with 
indicating  more  particularly : 

The  Chanson  de  Roland,  numerous  editions,  among  which  it  will 
be  well  to  point  out :  Leon  Gautier's  edition  or  editions,  Tours, 
1872-1883 ;  — Th.  Miiller's  editions,  1863  and  1878 ;  —  Cledat's 
edition,  Paris,  1886;  —  the  Chanson  d'Aliscans,  Guessard  and 
Montaiglon's  edition,  Paris,  1870 ; — the  Chanson  de  Renaud  de 
Montauban  [Les  Quatre  fils  Aymon~\,  Michelant's  edition,  1862, 
Sbuttgard ;  [Cf.  an  article  by  Taine  in  his  Essais  de  critique  et 
d'histoire]; — the  Chanson  de  Girart  de  Roussillon,  P.  Meyer's 
edition  or  translation,  Paris,  1884; — the  Chanson  de  Raoul  de 
Cambrai,  Paul  Meyer's  and  Longnon's  edition,  Paris,  1882 ; — and 
the  Chanson  du  Chevalier  au  Cygne,  Reiffenberg's  edition,  Brussels, 
1846-1848. 

The  principal  reprints  of  the  ancient  epopee  are  :  the  Roman  de 
Thebes,  L.  Constans'  edition,  Paris,  1890 ; — the  Roman  de  Troie,  by 
Benoist  de  Sainte-More,  edited  by  M.  A.  Joly,  Paris,  1870-1871 ; — the 
Roman  d'Eneas,  edited  by  M.  J.  S.  de  Grave,  Halle,  1891  ; — and  the 
Romans  d'Alexandre  le  Grand,  edited  by  M.  Paul  Meyer,  Paris,  1886. 


THE   MIDDLE   AGES  13 

of  the  existence  of  Tom  Thumb  or  of  Puss  in  Boots  V 
But  it  is  history  amplified,  history  "  heroified,"  if  one 
may  risk  the  barbarism ;  and  thanks  to  this  amplification, 
which  is  nothing  else  than  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
poet  to  suit  his  language  to  the  magnitude  of  the  events 
he  is  singing,  there  is  already  introduced  into  history  a 
commencement  of  exaggeration,  and  before  long  a  mar- 
vellous or  fabulous  element.  Virtues  greater  than  those 
of  humanity  are  ascribed  to  the  Kolands,  the  Guillaumes, 
the  Kenauds  ;  exploits  worthy  of  their  virtues  are  attri- 
buted to  them  ;  one  of  them  is  armed  with  his  "  Duran- 
dal,"  another  is  mounted  on  "Bayard"!  Moreover  as 
this  fabulous  element  flatters  agreeably  men's  imagina- 
tions, it  is  not  long  in  encroaching  upon  the  historical 
element,  of  which  it  is  even  seen  to  serve  as  an 
explanation,  until  finally  it  occupies  the  entire  field, 
in  the  Romans  de  la  Table-Ronde,  for  example,  in 

Next  in  order  come,  among  the  Romances  of  the  Round  Table,  and 
independently  of  the  Works  of  Crestien  de  Troyes,  of  which  M. 
Wendelin  Forster  has  undertaken  the  publication  in  full :  [Chrestien 
von  Troyes  samtliche  Werke,  Halle,  1884,  1887,  1890]  ;— the  Lais  de 
Marie  de  France,  Karl  Warnke's  edition,  Halle,  1885 ; — Lancelot  du 
Lac  [analysed  by  Paulin  Paris,  op,  cit.]  ;— Perceval,  Potvin's 
edition,  Mons,  1866-1871 ; — Le  Saint  Graal,  Hucher's  edition,  Le 
Mans,  1874 ; — Merlin,  Gaston  Paris  and  Ulrich's  edition  hi  the 
collection  of  the  Societe  des  anciens  textes  frangais,  Paris,  1886 ; 
— and  Tristan,  collection  of  what  remains  of  the  poems  relating 
to  his  adventures,  Fr.  Michel's  edition,  London  and  Paris, 
1835-1839. 

III.— The  Song  Writers. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Paulin  Paris'  article  on  the  Song  Writers  in  the 
Histoire  litteraire  de  la  France,  vol.  xxiii.  ; — Raynaud,  Biblio- 
graphic des  chansonniers  francais  den  XIIP  et  XIV"  siecles,  Paris, 
1884 ; — V.  Jeanroy,  Les  Origines  de  la  Poesie  lyrique  en  France  au 
Moyen-age,  Paris,  1889  ; — G.  Paris,  Les  Origines  de  la  Poesie  lyrique 
en  France,  Paris,  1892. 


14  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

which  history  only  serves  the  trouvere  as  a  pretext 
for  exercising  the  fertility  of  his  invention  ;  and 
in  this  way  the  romance  becomes  distinct  from  the 
epopee. 

The  epopee  does  not  cease  to  exist ;  and  the  Songs 
which  constitute  the  "  Cycle  of  the  Crusades"  are  con- 
vincing testimony  of  the  long  survival  of  this  literary 
form.  Henceforth,  however,  it  is  but  a  shadow,  a  re- 
flection of  itself,  an  unsubstantial  survival  whence  little 
by  little  the  colour  and  the  life  disappear.  On  the 
other  hand,  as  the  purely  human  greatness  of  historical 
events  comes  to  be  better  understood,  the  epopee  is  trans- 
formed into  the  chronicle  as  in  the  Chanson  de  Bertrand 
du  Guesclin.  Nothing  can  be  more  prosaic,  or  that 
there  is  less  reason  to  put  into  verse !  The  authors 
are  quite  alive  to  the  fact,  and  their  readers,  or  rather 
their  audience,  still  more  so.  Three  or  four  centuries 

2.  THE  DIFFERENT  FORMS  OF  LYRIC  POETRY. 

A.  The   "  Chansons   de   Toile,"    or  Historical   Songs  ; — and   that 
they  are  contemporary  with  the  national  epopee  as  is  proved  by : — 
their  essentially  narrative  style  ;— the  part  played  in  them  by  women  ; 
[the  advances  come  from  them,  and  the  men  treat  them  with  the 
brutality  to  which  they  always  have  recourse  in  such  cases]  ; — finally 
by  the  want  of  distinction  between  the  epic,  lyric  and  even  the  dra- 
matic elements. — The  epic  element  predominates  in  the  Historical 
Songs  proper ; — the  dramatic  element  comes  to  the  front  in  the  Pas- 
tourelles  and  Dancing  Songs  whose  ulterior  development  results — 
under  the  influence  of  the  entertainments  of  the  May  Fetes — in  veri- 
table plays,  such  as  the  Jeu  de  Robin  et  Marion  by  Adam  de  la  Halle, 
1260 ;— but  the  second  element,  the  lyric  or  personal,  does  not  make 
its  appearance  until  the  influence  is  felt  of  the  poetry  of  Provence. 

B.  Artificial  character  of  Provem;al  poetry  ; — and  that  it  is  merely 
a  jeu  d1  esprit ; — whose  invariable  theme  is  "  courteous  "  love  ; — but 
whose   artistic   value  is   not   lessened   on  this  account :    Materiam 
super avit  opus  [Cf.  in  Greek  literature  the  poets  of  the  Alexandrine 
period]  ; — and  whose  aristocratic  destiny  is  explained  by  its  defects  as 
much  as  by  its  qualities. 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  15 

before  the  Art  poetique,  they  are  conscious  that  the 
epopee 

Is  based  upon  fable  and  draws  its  vitality  from  fiction. 

And  when  reading  the  Vie  de  Saint  Louis  by  the  Sire  de 
Joinville,  or  the  Conquete  de  Constantinople  by  Geoffroy  de 
Villehardouin,  how  should  they  fail  to  remark  that  the 
use  of  prose  in  no  way  detracts  from  the  interest  of  even 
an  heroic  narrative  ?  In  any  case  it  is  a  fact  that  Master 
Jehan  Froissart,  who,  the  better  to  honour  Prowess,  had 
begun  to  write  his  Chroniques  in  verse,  re- wrote  them  in 
prose ; — and  thus  history  at  once  branches  off  from  the 
epopee  and  becomes  distinct  from  the  romance. 

The  meaning  and  nature  of  the  evolution  are  here, 
then,  perfectly  clear:  it  is  a  differentiation  of  literary 
forms  that  is  in  progress.  Instead  of  one  form,  for 
the  future  we  have  three, — to  which,  if  desired,  a 

C. — The  principal  representatives  of  lyrical  poetry  in  the  langue 
d'oil  are :  Conon  or  Quesne  de  Bethune, — Gace  Brule, — Blondel 
de  Nesle, — Guy,  Chatelaiii  de  Couci, — Gautier  d'Espinaus, — Gontier 
de  Soignies, — Thibaut  de  Champagne,  King  of  Navarre, — Charles 
d'Anjou,  King  of  Sicily, — Colin  Muset, — and  Eutebeuf. — A  very 
few  "  commoners  "  practised  this  branch, —  particularly  in  the 
"  puys "  of  the  north  of  France  ; — and  among  them  are  cited : 
Adam  de  la  Halle, — Jean  Bodel, — Baude  Fastoul,  all  three  belonging 
to  Arras.1 

D. — Whether  either  class  added  anything  to  their  Proven9al  models, 
— and  that  it  would  seem  that  they  made  a  more  serious  matter  of 
love. — But  this  is  perhaps  due  to  the  character  of  the  language ; — less 
formed  and  in  consequence  apparently  more  naive  than  the  langue 
d'oc. — Still  they  expressed  some  sentiments  that  had  not  been 
expressed  before  them ; — and  in  the  matter  of  form  some  of  these 
Courteous  Songs  are  perhaps  the  most  finished  productions  offered  us 
by  the  literature  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

1  We  borrow  these  two  lists  of  names  from  M.  Gaston  Paris'  Histoire  de  la 
litterature  franyaise  uu  Moyen-dye,  p.  184-187,  2nd  edition,  1890,  Hachette. 


16  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

fourth  might  be  added,  the  satiric  epopee,  of  the  type 
of  Baudoin  de  Sebourg  or  of  the  Pelerinage  de  Charle- 
magne a  Jerusalem, — all  the  three  clearly  character- 
ised ;  and  as  we  said,  it  is  not  any  intervention  from 
without  that  has  thus  separated  them  from  each  other, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  a  necessity  from  within.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  a  like  differentiation  of  forms  came 
about  in  the  past  in  Greece,  the  Odyssey  having  cer- 
tainly succeeded  the  Iliad,  and  the  Histories  of  Herodotus 
the  Odyssey. 

A  differentiation  of  classes,  whose  remote  cause  would 
be  found  in  the  progress  of  civilisation  in  general,  appears 
to  be  almost  contemporary  with  the  last  phase  of  the 
differentiation  of  forms. 

The  date  of  Richeut,  the  oldest  of  the  fabliaux  that 
have  come  down  to  us,  is  1159,  but  Richeut  can  barely 
be  classed  as  a  fabliau;  and  "the  majority  of  the 

E. — Last  transformation  of  lyrical  poetry. — Development  of  varieties 
having  a  fixed  form  [Ballad,  Rondeau,  Virelay,  Chant  Royal] . — Dis- 
appearance of  the  personal  sentiment. — Guillaume  de  Machaut, — 
Eustache  Deschamps, — Christine  de  Pisan, — Alain  Chartier. — "  Cir- 
cumstantial "  character  of  their  work ; — they  essay  to  make  passing 
events  the  subject  of  poetry. — That  there  is  room  for  astonishment 
that,  being  the  contemporaries  of  du  Guesclin  or  of  Joan  of  Arc,  they 
should  not  have  been  more  successful  in  this  effort  [Cf.  the  best  known 
of  Eustache  Deschamps'  ballads,  that  on  du  Guesclin]  : 

Estoc  d'honneur  et  arbre  de  vaillance. 

They  make  an  effort,  too,  to  "  moralise" ; — and  poetry  becoming  con- 
founded with  prose, — it  is  necessary  to  wait  at  least  until  Charles 
d'Orleans,  even  until  Villon  before  lyricism  is  seen  to  reappear. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Romanzen  und  Pastourellen,  Karl  Bartsch's 
edition,  Leipsic,  1870 ; — (Euvres  completes  d'Adam  de  la  Halle, 
Coussemaker's  edition,  Paris,  1872.  Chansons  de  Conon  de  Bethune, 
Wallenskold's  edition,  Helsingfors,  1891 ; — (Euvres  de  Blondel  de 
Nesle,  Tarbe's  edition,  Bheinis,  1862 ; — Chansons  du  cJtdtelain  de 


THE    MIDDLE   AGES  17 

others  seem  to  belong  to  the  end  of  the  12th  or  to 
the  beginning  of  the  13th  century."  The  fabliaux 
bear  witness  to  the  intellectual  emancipation  of  the 
villain.  The  same  remark  may  be  made  of  the  Roman 
de  Eenart  and  of  the  second  part  of  the  Roman  de 
la  Rose.  Whatever  be  the  satirical  bearing  of  these 
works, — even  if  it  be  reduced  to  the  measure  of  ridicule 
present  of  necessity,  since  we  are  not  angels,  in  all 
depictions  of  manners, — they  are  "  popular  "  works,  of 
which  an  entire  class  of  society  has  made  as  it  were  a 
literature  in  its  own  image  and  procuring  it  amusement. 
The  social  unity  to  which  the  Chansons  de  geste  bore 
eloquent  testimony  is  breaking  up,  and  the  feudal 
hierarchy  is  taking  for  a  time  fixed  shape.  In  response 
to  different  functions  we  now  have  new  customs,  and 
of  these  new  customs  are  born  new  literary  forms. 
The  villain  in  his  turn  would  have  his  pleasures ;  and  he 

Couci,  Path's  edition,  Heidelberg,  1883 ; — Poesies  de  Thibaut  de 
Champagne,  editions  of  Levesque  de  la  Kavalliere,  Paris,  1742,  and 
of  Tarbe,  1851 ; — Trouveres  Beiges  au  XIIe  au  XIV"  siecles,  Scheler's 
edition,  1st  series,  Brussels,  1876,  and  2nd  series,  Louvain,  1879 ; — 
Les  plus  anciens  chansonniers  franqais,  Brakelniann's  edition,  Paris, 
1891,  and  Marbourg,  1896. 

Almost  all  the  poems  of  Guillaume  de  Machaut  are  still  unpublished. 
The  complete  works  of  Eustache  Deschamps  have  been  issued  in  nine 
volumes,  Paris,  1878-1894. 

IV.— The  Fabliaux. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Victor  Le  Clerc's  article  on  the  Fabliaux  in  the 
Histoire  litteraire  de  la  France,  vol.  xxii. ; — A.  de  Montaiglon's  intro- 
duction to  the  Recueil  general  et  complet  des  Fabliaux,  Paris,  1875 ; — 
G.  Paris,  Lea    Contes   orientaux  dans    la   littcrature  franqaise  du 
Moyen-Uge,  1875,  Paris ; — J.  Bedier,  Les  Fabliaux,  Etude  d'histoire 
litteraire  du  Moyen-age,  2nd  edition,  Paris,  1895. 

2.  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  FABLIAUX. — Whether  many   Fabliaux 
have  failed  to  come  down  to  us ; — and  whether,  on  the  contrary, 

3 


18  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

finds  a  very  keen  pleasure,  at  first  in  having  his  portrait 
drawn,  and  one  still  keener  a  little  later,  in  executing  por- 
traits in  caricature  of  other  people. 

At  the  same  time,  in  the  better  though  barely  educated 
aristocratic  class,  the  individual,  under  the  double  in- 
fluence of  the  Romans  de  la  Table-Ronde  and  the  example 
of  the  Proven9al  troubadours,  is  attaining  to  a  commence- 
ment of  self-consciousness ;  and  lyric  poetry  comes  into 
existence.  Our  trouveres, — a  Quesne  de  Bethune,  the  Sire 
de  Couci,  Thibaut  de  Champagne,  Huon  d'Oisi,  Charles 
d'Anjou, — all  of  noble  birth,  attempt  to  introduce  the  ex- 
pression of  their  personal  sentiments  into  the  conventional 
forms  they  borrow  from  these  early  masters,  forms  of 
which  they  accept  the  exigencies  with  docility,  when 
they  do  not  modify  them  with  a  view  to  making  their 
constraint  the  closer  and  the  more  monotonous.  They 
are  but  very  imperfectly  successful.  Fresh  to  and  un- 
it is  not  to  be  regretted  that  more  than  a  hundred  have  reached 
us. — Of  the  origin  of  the  Fabliaux ; — and  whether  it  should  be 
sought  for  in  the  remote  East  [Cf.  Gaston  Paris  for  the  affirmative 
and  J.  Bedier  for  the  negative  view]. — That  it  may  be,  indeed, 
that  a  few  Fabliaux  have  come  to  us  from  India ; — but  that  in 
general  great  abuse  has  been  made  in  our  time  of  "  oriental  origins  "  ; 
— and  that  the  majority  of  our  Fabliaux,  such  as  Brunain,  the 
Vaclie  au  Pretre,  or  the  Vilain  Mire  or  the  Boiirgcoisc  d'Orleans, 
only  call  for  an  inventive  effort  that  does  not  exceed  the  capacity 
of  the  most  ordinary  experience. — Grossness  of  the  Fabliaux  ; — 
and  the  difficulty  of  reproducing  even  their  titles ; — on  account 
of  obscenity. — The  satirical  side  of  the  Fabliaux  ; — and  in  this 
connection,  that  they  seem  to  have  avoided  attacking  powerful 
personages. — How,  on  the  other  hand,  they  treat  the  priest,  the 
"village  cure,"  not  the  monk  or  the  bishop; — and  how  they  treat 
women. — Of  the  "documentary"  value  of  the  Fabliaux; — and 
whether  they  teach  us  anything  more  than  the  Dits  for  example ; 
— or  a  number  of  other  "documents"  of  every  kind.— The  favour 
enjoyed  by  the  Fabliaux  throughout  Europe ; — and  supposing  their 
origin  not  to  have  been  French, — of  the  slight  gratitude  we  owe 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  19 

skilled  in  self-observation,  when  celebrating  their  "  lady  " 
or  their  "  love  pains,"  they  would  fain  note  the  cha- 
racteristic trait,  give  the  precise  and  distinguishing  touch, 
render,  in  a  word,  their  sentiments  in  a  manner  that 
shall  be  peculiar  to  themselves,  but  they  are  ignorant 
how  to  effect  their  purpose.  They  are  perhaps  too  early 
in  the  field !  Their  period  is  that  which  has  sometimes 
been  called  the  golden  age  of  mediaeval  literature,  but  the 
time  has  not  come  to  dissolve  the  solidarity  that  binds 
the  individual  to  his  fellows.  Neither  the  mental  con- 
ditions nor  the  manners  of  the  period  permit  this.  It 
is  too  soon  as  yet ;  and  in  the  meanwhile  all  their 
Songs,  in  which  there  are  real  qualities — if  not  artistic 
qualities  at  least  those  of  grace,  elegance  and  pretti- 
ness — continue  without  or  almost  without  exception  to 
resemble  each  other.  Still  the  signal  has  been  given, 
and  this  "  courteous  "  poetry,  in  which  the  personal 

our  trouveres  for  the  form  of  wit  the  Fabliaux  have  propagated  in  the 
world. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — See  Anatole  de  Montaiglon's  and  Gaston  Raynaud's 
Recueil  general  et  complet  des  Fabliaux,  6  vols.  8vo,  Paris,  1872-1890. 

V.— Allegorical  Literature. 

Of  the  advantages  that  accrue  from  studying  from  the  same  point 
of  view  all  the  works  of  the  literature  of  the  Middle  Ages  distinguished 
by  the  same  allegorical  character, — and  these  are  :  A.  The  Roman  dc 
Renart ; — B.  The  Bestiaires,  the  Dits,  and  the  Debats  or  Disputes ; — 
and  C.  The  Roman  de  la  Rose. — In  this  way  it  is  easier  to  trace  the 
connection  between  them  and  the  forms  that  preceded  them. — Bj* 
noting  that  they  all,  or  almost  all,  belong  to  the  same  time  it 
is  perceived  that  the  "allegory"  characterises  an  entire  "period" 
of  mediaeval  literature  ; — and  one  is  led  to  seek  the  reasons 
for  this  taste  for  allegory. — There  are  found  to  be  social  reasons, 
such  as  the  danger  the  writer  might  run  in  openly  "  satirising " 
somebody  more  powerful  than  himself; — but  there  are  more  es- 
pecially literary  reasons  resulting, — from  the  slight  extent  to  which 
the  "direct"  observation  of  reality  was  practised  in  the  Middle 


22  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

and  when  it  is  clearly  established  that  neither  the 
Papacy  nor  the  Empire  is  capable  of  maintaining  the 
unity  of  Europe  in  face  of  the  conflicting  interests  that 
divide  it,  it  becomes  the  turn  of  the  nations,  after  the 
forms  and  the  classes,  to  attain  to  self-consciousness. 

This  is  nowhere  better  perceived  than  in  the  history  of 
literatures.  The  ground-work  of  our  Chansons  de  geste 
continues  to  subsist  in  France, — and  also  that  of  our 
Romans  de  la  Table-Ronde,  which  are  destined  to  serve 
for  the  compilations  of  the  Bibliotheque  bleue, — but  it 
would  seem  as  if  their  spirit  emigrates  on  the.  one 
hand  to  Germany,  and  on  the  other  to  Spain.  In 
opposition  to  the  Spanish  genius,  which  is  about  to 
combine  what  is  most  extravagant  in  the  Chansons  de 
geste  or  the  Romans  de  la  Table-Ronde  with  what  is 
most  heroic  in  the  "  folly  of  the  Cross,"  the  French 
genius  manifests  itself  as  a  spirit  of  mockery,  of  irony 

vehicle,  and  as  it  were  as  the  "passe-partout"  for  satire  ; — pains  are 
taken,  too,  to  imitate  the  animals'  habits  more  exactly  : — and  the 
outcome  of  all  this  is  something  analogous  to  the  "  ample  comedy  " 
of  La  Fontaine ; — but  of  a  La  Fontaine  who  is  no  artist — perhaps  not 
a  poet. 

Finally,  in  a  last  period, — on  the  threshold  of  the  fourteenth 
century — the  new  "  branches  "  become  purely  satirical ; — and  alle- 
gorical ; — "  the  grossness  of  the  worst  Fabliaux  invades  these 
writings"; — or  "they  serve  as  a  vehicle  for  bitter  and  excessive 
satire  "  [Cf.  Gaston  Paris,  La  Litterature  frangaise  au  Moyen-age] . — 
The  matter  outgrows  the  scope  of  the  work ; — the  general  interest 
gives  way  to  a  purely  topical  interest ;  —  and  as  this  latter  phase 
coincides  with  the  perversion  of  the  language, — the  Middle  Ages  once 
more  miss  an  opportunity  of  giving  definite  shape  in  a  masterpiece 
to  an  ingenious  idea. 

3.  THE  WORK. — See  for  the  Roman  de  Benart  proper,  Ernest 
Martin's  edition,  mentioned  above.  In  Meon's  edition,  1826,  Paris 
should  be  mentioned  as  well :  Le  Couronnement  Benart — Benard  le 
Nouvcl; — and  Benart  le  Contref ait,  Wolf  s  edition,  1861,  Vienna. — 
A  piece  such  as  that  which  Eutebeuf  has  entitled  Benart  le  Bestuurne 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  23 

and  already  of  revolt.  Very  different  from  the  English 
genius,  as  exemplified  almost  at  the  outset  in  Chaucer's 
Tales,  it  is  no  less  different  from  the  German  genius. 
Again,  is  it  not  almost  as  distinct  from  the  Italian 
genius,  as  the  latter  is  beginning  to  take  shape  in 
the  Divine  Comedy,  for  example,  or  in  the  sonnets 
of  Petrarch?  And  thus  it  is  that  in  Europe,  which 
in  the  past  was  so  closely  united,  the  nationalities  are 
forming  by  the  agglomeration  of  like  to  like,  by  a  sort  of 
process  of  grouping  round  certain  ideas  or  certain  senti- 
ments, to  be  transformed  later  on  by  heredity  into  racial 
characteristics. 

It  is  impossible  to  think  without  some  uneasiness  of 
what  would  have  become  of  the  French  genius  had  it 
persevered  in  this  direction,  or  rather, — for  it  was 
destined  so  to  persevere,  as  we  shall  see, — if  this  in- 
fluence of  the  Gallic  bent  of  mind  had  not  been 

may  serve  to  prove  the  popularity  of  the  Roman,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  does  not  form  part  of  it  in  any  way  whatever. 

With  the  Roman  de  Renart  may  be  compared,  on  account  of  their 
more  or  less  allegorical  characteristics  : 

B. — The  BestiaireS,  among  which  are  cited  those  ; — of  Philippe 
de  Thaon, — of  Guillaume  Le  Clerc, — and  of  Richard  de  Fournival. 
They  are  animal  tales  moralised ; — and  whence  are  sometimes  drawn, 
as  by  Philippe  de  Thaon,  Christian  lessons ; — or,  as  by  Richard  de 
Fournival,  amatory  lessons  ; 

C.  The  Dits,  and  still  more  the  DebatS — for  instance  the  Bataille 
de  Careme  et  de  Charnage ; — the  theme  of  which  has  been  repro- 
duced by  Rabelais  in  his  epic  account  of  the  struggle  between  the 
Heine  des  Andouilles  and  Quaresme  prenant ; — or  the  Bataille  des 
Sept  Arts  by  Henri  d'Andeli  ; 

D.  The    Arts    d' Amour,     among    which    are    cited     Andre    le 
Chapelain's  De  arte   lioneste   amandi,    translated    into    French   by 
Drouart  la  Vache ; — Jacques  d' Amiens'  Clef  d  Amours  ; — le  Conseil 
d1  Amours  by  Richard  de  Fournival. — It  is  due  to  the  influence  of 
these  works  that  courteous  poetry  finds  its  way  into  the  Roman  de 
la  Ruse. 


22  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

and  when  it  is  clearly  established  that  neither  the 
Papacy  nor  the  Empire  is  capable  of  maintaining  the 
unity  of  Europe  in  face  of  the  conflicting  interests  that 
divide  it,  it  becomes  the  turn  of  the  nations,  after  the 
forms  and  the  classes,  to  attain  to  self-consciousness. 

This  is  nowhere  better  perceived  than  in  the  history  of 
literatures.  The  ground-work  of  our  Chansons  de  geste 
continues  to  subsist  in  France, — and  also  that  of  our 
Romans  de  la  Table-Ronde,  which  are  destined  to  serve 
for  the  compilations  of  the  Bibliotheque  bleue, — but  it 
would  seem  as  if  their  spirit  emigrates  on  the  one 
hand  to  Germany,  and  on  the  other  to  Spain.  In 
opposition  to  the  Spanish  genius,  which  is  about  to 
combine  what  is  most  extravagant  in  the  Chansons  de 
geste  or  the  Romans  de  la  Table-Ronde  with  what  is 
most  heroic  in  the  "  folly  of  the  Cross,"  the  French 
genius  manifests  itself  as  a  spirit  of  mockery,  of  irony 

vehicle,  and  as  it  were  as  the  " 2)asse-partout"  for  satire; — pains  are 
taken,  too,  to  imitate  the  animals'  habits  more  exactly : — and  the 
outcome  of  all  this  is  something  analogous  to  the  "ample  comedy  " 
of  La  Fontaine  ; — but  of  a  La  Fontaine  who  is  no  artist — perhaps  not 
a  poet. 

Finally,  in  a  last  period, — on  the  threshold  of  the  fourteenth 
century — the  new  "branches"  become  purely  satirical; — and  alle- 
gorical ; — "  the  grossness  of  the  worst  Fabliaux  invades  these 
writings"; — or  "they  serve  as  a  vehicle  for  bitter  and  excessive 
satire  "  [Cf .  Gaston  Paris,  La  Litterature  francaise  au  Moyen-dge] . — 
The  matter  outgrows  the  scope  of  the  work ; — the  general  interest 
gives  way  to  a  purely  topical  interest ;  —  and  as  this  latter  phase 
coincides  with  the  perversion  of  the  language, — the  Middle  Ages  once 
more  miss  an  opportunity  of  giving  definite  shape  in  a  masterpiece 
to  an  ingenious  idea. 

3.  THE  WORK. — See  for  the  Roman  de  Renart  proper,  Ernest 
Martin's  edition,  mentioned  above.  In  Meon's  edition,  1826,  Paris 
should  be  mentioned  as  well :  Le  Couronnement  Renart — Renard  le 
Nouvcl; — and  Renart  le  Contrefait,  Wolf's  edition,  1861,  Vienna. — 
A  piece  such  as  that  which  Eutebeuf  has  entitled  Renart  le  Bestvurne 


THE   MIDDLE   AGES  23 

and  already  of  revolt.  Very  different  from  the  English 
genius,  as  exemplified  almost  at  the  outset  in  Chaucer's 
Tales,  it  is  no  less  different  from  the  German  genius. 
Again,  is  it  not  almost  as  distinct  from  the  Italian 
genius,  as  the  latter  is  beginning  to  take  shape  in 
the  Divine  Comedy,  for  example,  or  in  the  sonnets 
of  Petrarch?  And  thus  it  is  that  in  Europe,  which 
in  the  past  was  so  closely  united,  the  nationalities  are 
forming  by  the  agglomeration  of  like  to  like,  by  a  sort  of 
process  of  grouping  round  certain  ideas  or  certain  senti- 
ments, to  be  transformed  later  on  by  heredity  into  racial 
characteristics. 

It  is  impossible  to  think  without  some  uneasiness  of 
what  would  have  become  of  the  French  genius  had  it 
persevered  in  this  direction,  or  rather, — for  it  was 
destined  so  to  persevere,  as  we  shall  see, — if  this  in- 
fluence of  the  Gallic  bent  of  mind  had  not  been 

may  serve  to  prove  the  popularity  of  the  Roman,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  does  not  form  part  of  it  in  any  way  whatever. 

With  the  Roman  dc  Renart  may  be  compared,  on  account  of  their 
more  or  less  allegorical  characteristics  : 

B. — The  BestiaireS,  among  which  are  cited  those  ; — of  Philippe 
de  Thaon, — of  Guillaume  Le  Clerc, — and  of  Richard  de  Fournival. 
They  are  animal  tales  moralised ; — and  whence  are  sometimes  drawn, 
as  by  Philippe  de  Thaon,  Christian  lessons ; — or,  as  by  Richard  de 
Fouruival,  amatory  lessons ; 

C.  The  DitS,  and  still  more  the  DebatS — for  instance  the  Bataille 
de  Careme  et  de  Charnage ; — the  theme  of  which  has  been  repro- 
duced by  Rabelais  in  his  epic  account  of  the  struggle  between  the 
Heine  des  Andouilles  and  Quaresme  prenant ; — or  the  Bataille  des 
Sept  Arts  by  Henri  d'Andeli ; 

D.  The    Arts    d' Amour,     among    which    are    cited     Andre    le 
Chapelain's  De  arte   honeste   amandi,    translated    into    French   by 
Drouart  la  Vache  ;— Jacques  d' Amiens'  Clef  d' Amours  ; — le  Conaeil 
d1  Amours  by  Richard  de  Fournival. — It  is  due  to  the  influence  of 
these  works  that  courteous  poetry  finds  its  way  into  the  Roman  de 
la  Rose. 


24  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

counterbalanced,  almost  from  the  start,  by  other  in- 
fluences, and  foremost  amongst  them  by  "  scholasticism." 
Many  hard  things  have  been  said  of  scholasticism  in 
general,  and  doubtless  with  some  justice,  though,  after 
all,  St.  Thomas  is  not  perhaps  so  much  the  inferior 
of  Aristotle,  nor  Duns  Scotus  of  Hegel.  However, 
this  is  not  the  question  here ;  and  we  shall  confine 
ourselves  to  saying  that  if,  as  La  Bruyere  declares, 
"  the  whole  art  of  writing  consists  in  defining  well 
and  in  depicting  well,"  then  scholasticism  has  certainly 
taught  us  the  half  of  it.  Owing  to  the  lack  of  a 
sufficiently  wide  knowledge  of  nature,  and  still  more 
to  the  lack  of  a  sufficiently  experimental  knowledge, 
there  is  nothing  "  scientific,"  in  the  true  sense  of 
the  word,  about  the  scholastic  definitions ;  but  they 
nevertheless  served  to  discipline  the  French  genius 
by  imposing  upon  it  that  need  of  clearness,  precision, 

E.— The  Roman  de  la  Rose. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Paulin  Paris'  article  on  the  Roman  de  la  Rose,  in 
the  Histotre  litteraire,  vol.  xxiii. ; — and  his  article  on  Jehan  de  Meung, 
in  the  Histoire  litteraire,  vol.  xxviii. ; — Langlois,  Origines  et  sources 
du  Roman  de  la  Rose,  Paris,  1891 ; — Gaston  Paris,  La  Litterature 
francaise  au  Moyen-dge. 

2.  THE    CONTENTS   OF    THE    EOMANCE. — The  two   authors  of    the 
Roman,  Guillaume  de  Lorris  and  Jean  de  Meung ; — and  the  fact  not 
to  be  overlooked  that  there  was  a  difference  of  age  of  forty  years 
between  them ; — or  about  the  distance  of   time  that   separates   le 
Couronnement   Renart    or    Renart    le    Nouvel    from  the  principal 
branches  of  the  Roman  de  Renart. — The  relation  of  the  "psychologi- 
cal epopee"  (Gaston  Paris)   of  Guillaume  de  Lorris  to  the  "animal 
epopee  "  of  the  Roman  de  Renart. — Guillaume  de  Lorris,  in  his  Art 
d'aimer,  personifies   the  varieties  of  love,   just  as   the    authors    of 
Renart  personified  the  vices  of  humanity  in  their  animals. — His  con- 
ception of  love  ; — -and  its  relation  to  that  in  the  "  courteous  poetry."- 
His  skill  in  the  handling  of  allegory  ; — and  that  it  was  probably  not 
the  least  important  cause  of  the  success  of  the  Roman  de  la  Rose. — 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  25 

and  propriety  which  throughout  has  had  a  notable 
influence  on  the  destinies  of  our  prose.  It  may  be,  too, 
that  we  owe  to  scholasticism  our  habit,  not  of  going  to 
the  bottom  of  questions,  but  of  viewing  them  in  every 
light,  and  thus  of  perceiving  their  unexpected  aspects 
and  of  finding  ingenious  solutions  to  them,  —  solutions 
too  ingenious  perhaps,  yet  bordering  at  times  on  the 
truth,  which,  as  it  is  complex,  may  be  garbled  by 
a  too  simple  mode  of  expression.  In  any  case,  we 
cannot  be  otherwise  than  grateful  to  scholasticism  for 
having  taught  us  to  "compose";  for,  as  is  notorious, 
it  is  this  balance  in  the  composition,  this  subordina- 
tion of  detail  to  the  main  idea,  this  nice  proportion 
of  the  parts  that  will  prove  to  be  one  of  the  super- 
lative and  characteristic  features  of  French  literature. 
It  may  be  said  indeed  that  the  French  genius,  while 
manifesting  itself  as  a  spirit  of  satire  and  oppo- 

For  all  these  reasons,  the  Roman  de  la  Rose  may  be  considered  as 
the  ideal  expression  of  the  sentiments  of  the  society,  of  which  the 
Roman  de  Renart  is  the  satirical  picture. 

It  would  be  well  to  seek  to  establish  which  were  the  works  ; — in  the 
interval  that  separates  G.  de  Lorris  from  Jean  de  Meung,  that  "  filled 
the  place  "  of  the  Roman  de  la  Rose ; — and  why  Jean  de  Meung,  who 
was  about  to  alter  its  nature,  should  have  chosen  to  continue  it  rather 
than  the  Roman  de  Renart  ? 

Jean  de  Meung's  Roman  ; — and  that  the  poet  himself  regarded  this 
part  of  his  work  merely  as  a  sally  of  his  youth  ;  —  while  its  sig- 
nificance is  on  this  account  only  the  more  characteristic. — While 
respecting  the  story  and  the  scope  of  Guillaume  de  Lorris'  work, 
Jean  de  Meung  introduced  into  them  a  marked  disposition  towards 
"  social  satire  "  and  "  natural  philosophy  "  ; — the  first  tendency  con- 
nects him  with  the  authors  of  the  additional  "  branches  "  of  the 
Roman  de  Renart ; — with  whom  he  has  also  in  common  the  violence 
of  his  language  ; — and  his  license  of  expression.  —  His  inclination 
towards  "natural  philosophy"  seems  more  exclusively  peculiar  to 
himself ; — although  it  can  be  compared  with  the  doubtless  very  un- 
conscious philosophy  of  the  authors  of  our  Fabliaux. 


26  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

sition   took  the  shape  as  well  of  a  spirit  of   logic   and 
clearness. 

Further,  in  opposition  to  the  feudal  spirit,  which  is  a 
spirit  of  individualism  and  of  liberty,  it  took  the  shape  of 
a  spirit  of  equality,  not  to  say  in  so  many  words,  of  justice 
and  "fraternity."  Omnia  qua  loquitur  populus  iste 
conjuratio  est.  Of  all  the  characteristics  of  the  European 
literature  of  the  Middle  Ages  there  is  none  that  has 
remained  more  national,  and,  if  one  may  venture  so  to 
express  oneself,  more  personal  to  French  literature  than 
this  leaning  towards  universality.  It  might  be  main- 
tained without  exaggeration,  that  the  "Bights  of  Man" 
are  already  set  forth  in  the  second  part  of  the  Roman  de 
la  Rose,  that  by  Jean  de  Meung,  and  what  is  more,  the 
contention  could  be  proved.  From  the  first  it  is,  as  it 
were,  an  understood  thing  that  authors  shall  not  write 
in  French  for  the  sake  of  writing,  but  with  a  view  to 

Prodigious  success  of  the  Itoinan  dc  la  Hose ; — and  that  Jean  dc 
Meung,  with  Christien  de  Troyes,  is  one  of  the  very  few  writers  of  the 
Middle  Ages  of  whom  it  may  be  said  that  their  works  were  epoch 
making. — The  attacks  of  Gerson ; — and  of  Christine  de  Pisan ; — evi- 
dence of  Petrarch ; — "  Since  you  desire  a  foreign  work  in  the  vulgar 
tongue,  he  wrote  to  Guy  de  Gonzague  of  Mantua,  I  cannot  suggest 
anything  better  than  this  one  [the  Roman  de  la  Rose],  unless  all 
France,  with  Paris  leading  the  way,  be  mistaken  as  to  its  merit." — 
Numerous  copies  of  the  poem ; — and  immediately  after  the  invention 
of  printing,  the  numerous  editions  of  the  book. 

3.  THE  WORK. — Independently  of  the  edition  issued  by  Marot  at 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  there  may  be  cited  Meou's 
edition,  Paris,  1818 ; — and  Pierre  Marteau's  [a  pseudonym]  edition 
with  translation,  Orleans,  1878-1879. 

The  importance  of  "allegorical"  literature  in  the  Middle  Ages  is 
seen  from  these  summary  details  ; — it  would  remain  to  compare  these 
"  personifications  "  with  the  "  Entities"  and  "  Quiddities  "  of  scholasti- 
cism ; — and  both  with  what  will  be  called  later  "  the  reduction  to  the 
universal," — or,  in  other  words,  general  ideas. — That  unfortunately, 


THE    MIDDLE   AGES  27 

exerting  an  action,  and  that  the  object  of  this  action 
shall  be  the  propagation  of  general  ideas.  Later  on,  this 
peculiarity  will  be  found  to  contribute  more  than  any- 
thing else  to  extend  throughout  the  world  the  popularity 
of  the  French  language  and  literature  ;  and  is  it  not  exact 
that  this  is  the  quality  in  our  tongue  which  pleases 
foreigners,  who  spoke  of  it,  as  far  back  as  the  thirteenth 
century,  as  "the  most  delectable  in  existence"?  The 
explanation  of  this  characteristic  lies :  in  part  in  the 
persistence  and  continuity  of  Latin  traditions ;  in  part 
in  the  efforts  of  our  legists  to  secure  the  triumph  of 
the  spirit  of  lloman  law  over  the  Germanic  or  feudal 
spirit ;  and  finally  in  the  encouragement  by  our  kings 
of  an  effort  that  serves  the  ends  of  their  noblest 
ambition,  since  it  makes  for  the  unification  of  their 
subjects'  aspirations  and  for  the  formation  of  the 
French  nation. 

if  the  intentions  were  excellent,  the  method  was  false ; — for  the  idea 
did  not  become  clearer  in  proportion  as  recourse  was  had  more  and 
more  to  allegory ; — and  the  writers  got  further  away  from  nature  and 
truth  in  the  same  proportion. — This  is  what  Petrarch  meant  when, 
in  the  letter  quoted  above,  he  made  the  authors  of  the  Human  dc  la 
liusc  the  reproach  that  their  "Muse  was  asleep"; — and  when  he 
contrasted  with  their  coldness,  the  passionate  ardour  breathed  by  the 
verses  of  "  those  divine  singers  of  love  :  Virgil,  Catullus,  Propcrtius, 
and  Ovid. 

VI.— The  Farce  de  Pathelin. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Petit  de  Julleville,  La  Comtdic  ct  lea  Maura  au 
Afoycn-dgc,  Paris,   1887  ; — Littre,  Histoirc  dc   la   languc  franpiisc, 
Paris; — Lenient,    La    Satire    en    France    au    Moi/cn-tign ; — Ernest 
Kenan,    la    Farce    dc    1'athelin,   in    his   Eusaia   dc   critique    ct   dc 
morale. 

2.  MORALITIES  AND  FAUCES.—  That  tlio  examination  of  the  Morali- 
ties con  (inns  directly  or  indirectly  the  preceding  observations  upon 
"  allegorical  literature  "  : — directly  if  the  moralities  are  merely  a  form 
of  this  literature  :  — by  the  nature  of  the  personages  who  are  the  heroes 


28     MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

III 

How  was  it,  then,  that  this  movement  was  abruptly 
interrupted?  and  in  point  of  fact,  was  it  interrupted? 
For  we  possess  but  an  indifferent  knowledge  of  the  long 
period  that  elapsed  between  the  reigns  of  the  earliest 
Valois  and  the  time  when  the  Renaissance  was  in  full 
progress. 

The  language  becomes  confused,  faltering  and  heavy, 
grows  more  complicated  without  growing  more  refined, 
becomes  at  once  more  obscure,  more  pedantic  and  more 
insipid.  "  An  ordinance  of  Saint  Louis,  it  has  been  said, 
and  an  ordinance  of  Louis  XIV.  are  both  in  French"; 
this  doubtless  amounts  to  saying  that  an  ordinance  of 
Jean  le  Bon,  or  an  ordinance  of  Charles  VII.  are  scarcely 
in  French  or  are  not  in  French.  [A.  de  Montaiglon,  in 
Crepet's  Recueil  des  Poetes  franqais.}  The  old  forms 

of  them :  Mal-Avise,  Bien-Avise,  Rebellion,  Malefin,  etc. ; — by  the 
intention  of  "moralising"  evinced  by  their  very  names; — and  by 
the  covert  satire  they  contain. — The  same  observations  are  indirectly 
confirmed : — by  the  superiority  of  the  Farces  to  the  Moralities ; — 
and  by  the  nature  of  this  superiority, — which  consists  essentially  in 
the  fact  that  the  personages  in  the  former  works  are  not  allegories, — 
but  real  personages. 

The  Farce  de  Maitre  Patlielin ; — and  whether  the  origin  of 
classical  comedy  is  to  be  traced  to  it ; — and  if  its  author  is  to 
be  regarded  as  a  "  forerunner  of  Moliere." — Of  the  abuses  in  con- 
nection with  this  perpetual  search  after  "origins"; — and  that  a 
few  good  comic  scenes  do  not  warrant  the  pronouncing  of  the 
name  of  Moliere. — The  Farce  de  Patlielin  is  after  all  only  a  Fabliau 
in  dialogue; — the  central  idea  of  which  is  neither  very  clever 
nor  very  deep ; — though  for  all  that  the  farce  is  excellent. — That 
the  distinction  between  literary  forms  must  be  observed; — and  in 
this  connection  of  an  excellent  passage  of  Benan  on  the  lowness 
of  the  sentiments  that  find  expression  in  the  Farce  de  Maitre 
Patlielin. 

A  few  remarks  upon  the  Soties  ; — which  belong  to  the  period  of  the 


THE    MIDDLE   AGES  29 

are  exhausted  and  the  new  have  not  arisen  as  yet 
upon  their  ruins.  The  epic ,  vein  has  run  dry  :  there 
are  no  more  Chansons  de  geste  or  Romans.  Fabliaux 
are  no  longer  composed,  and  even  the  important 
Mysteries  only  make  their  appearance  towards  the 
close  of  the  period.  [Cf.  V.  Le  Clerc,  Histoire 
litteraire  de  la  France,  vol.  xxiv.]  The  Chronicle, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  encroached  in  every  direction. 
There  are  chronicles  in  verse  and  chronicles  in  prose. 
Eustache  Deschamps  is  a  chronicler,  and  so  is  Georges 
Chastelain.  The  most  wise  Christine  de  Pisan,  and 
Froissart  himself,  are  also  merely  chroniclers.  They 
are  all  of  them  exclusively  preoccupied  with  the  present ; 
and  this  is  comprehensible  when  one  bears  in  mind  the 
time  in  which  they  are  living. 

Of  a  surety,  it  is  not  the  moment  to  dream  of  the 
mystic   conquest    of    the   Grail   when   the   English    are 

literature  of  the  Middle  Ages  that  is  still  almost  unexplored. — That 
it  would  seem,  however,  that  they  bear  the  same  relation  to  such 
a  Farce  as  Pathelin,  as  the  last  branches  of  the  Benard  to  the 
earliest ; — or  as  the  inspiration  of  Jean  de  Meung  to  that  of  G. 
de  Lorris  : — once  more  it  is  the  allegory  that  itself  reacts  upon 
itself, — by  endeavouring  to  avoid  dullness  by  recourse  to  gross- 
ness. 

3.  THE   WORK. — The  principal  edition  of  the  Farce  de  Maitre 
Patlielin  is  that  of  F.  Genin,  Paris,  1854. 

VIL— Francois  Villon  [Paris,  1431 ....]. 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — A.  Campaux,  Franqois  Villon,   sa  vie  et  ses 
ceuvres,  Paris,  1859 ; — A.  Longnon,  Etude  biographique  sur  Francois 
Villon,  Paris,  1877; — Aug.  Vitu,  Le  Jargon  au  XVe  siecle,  Paris 
1884 ; — Lucien   Schone,  Le  Jargon  et  Jobelin   de  Franqois   Villon, 
Paris,  1888; — A.  Bijvanck,  Essai  critique  sur  les  ceuvres  de  Francois 
Villon,  Leyden,  1883  ; — (Euvres  de  Franqois    Villon,  edited  by  M. 
Aug.  Longnon,  Paris,  1892. 

2.  THE  POET  ; — that  Boileau  was  not  mistaken  in  hailing  him  as 
unique  among  or  the  "first"  of  our  "old  romance  writers" — The 


30  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

masters  of  three-quarters  of  France ;  and  people  have  no 
heart  for  rhyming  amid  the  tumult  of  arms.  Further 
there  was  the  Black  Plague,  the  Jacquerie,  the  madness 
of  King  Charles  VI.,  and  the  sanguinary  quarrels  between 
Armagnacs  and  Burgundians.  To  sing  "  the  ladies  "  or 
the  return  of  spring — 

The  year  has  doffed  its  mantle 
Of  wind,  of  cold,  and  of  rain, 

amid  all  these  horrors  and  the  universal  distress, 
the  heedlessness  is  needful  of  a  Charles  d'Orleans.  And 
when  finally,  during  the  last  years  of  the  reign  of  Charles 
VII.,  or  under  Louis  XI.,  there  is  a  return  of  peace  and 
tranquillity,  one  or  two  exceptions  do  not  prevent  what 
I  may  perhaps  describe  as  a  Flemish  or  Burgundian 
heaviness  from  invading  the  whole  domain  both  of 
literature  and  art — the  tomb  of  the  dukes  of  Burgundy 

Parisian  student  of  the  fifteenth  century  ; — his  adventures,  and  how 
they  nearly  brought  him  to  the  gibbet ; — he  was  perhaps  on  the  eve 
of  being  hanged  when  he  wrote  his  Ballade  des  Pendus  and  his  two 
Testaments; — although  on  the  other  hand  the  "Testament"  was  a 
form  of  composition  frequently  adopted  in  the  literature  of  his  time. — 
Whether  he  was  a  member  of  a  band  of  robbers, — and  that  in  any 
case  he  was  in  the  prison  of  Charite-sur -Loire  when  Louis  XI.  came 
to  the  throne.  He  was  released  on  this  occasion,  and  from  this 
moment  we  lose  sight  of  him. — But  enough  is  known  to  allow  it 
to  be  affirmed  that  the  great  superiority  of  his  work  is  due  to  his 
having  "lived"  his  poetry. 

That  in  point  of  fact  he  possesses  all  the  qualities  of  a  great  poet 
and  of  a  lyric  poet ; — and  even  those  of  a  wit ; — although  his  wit  was 
generally  in  very  bad  taste ;— and  his  jests  are  those  of  the  stews 
[Cf.  the  ballad  of  the  Belle  Heaumiere  and  that  of  the  Grosse 
Margot~\. — But  he  is  touching  when  expressing  his  repentance  [Cf. 
le  Grand  Testament,  169-224],  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  which  is 
afforded  by  la  Ballade  que  Villon  fit  a  larequete  de  samere.  Further 
he  had  the  gift  of  seeing  and  of  evoking  the  vision  of  "things  seen  " 
[Cf.  la  Ballade  des  Contredits  de  Franc  Gontier~\,  a  keen  sentiment 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  31 

at  Dijon  is  proof — and  from  crushing  everything  beneath 
its  incubus,  which  the  ostentatious  display  of  riches  aggra- 
vates rather  than  alleviates.  [Cf.  Ernest  Benan,  Histoire 
litteraire  de  la  France,  vol.  xxiv.] 

Doubtless  there  is  Villon,  Fran9ois  Villon,  "  born  in 
Paris,  near  Pontoise,"  a  true  gallows-bird,  but  a  true 
poet  as  well — one  would  even  venture  to  say  a  great 
poet ;  and  assuredly  some  of  his  Ballades  exemplify  the 
grace  and  vigour  of  style,  the  emotional  sincerity,  and 
the  originality  of  sentiment  and  ideas  that  attach  to 
this  name  of  poet  when  it  is  deserved.  What  is  there 
grimmer  than  the  Ballade  des  pendus?  what  fuller  of 
colour  than  the  Ballade  de  la  grosse  Mar  got  ?  more 
naively  "limned"  than  the  Ballade  que  Jit  Villon  a  la 
requete  de  sa  mere?  and — since  Villon  cannot  be  named 
without  the  reference — what  is  there  more  human  in 
its  melancholy  than  the  Ballade  des  Dames  du  temps 

of  the  grim  [Cf.  Grand  Testament,  305-329,  and  1728-1778]  ; — infinite 
grace  and  delicacy  when  he  liked  [Cf.  Za  Ballade  des  dames  du  temps 
jadis~]  ; — the  rugged  eloquence  of  the  satirist ; — to  such  a  degree 
indeed  that  in  none  of  our  poets  is  the  close  relationship  between 
lyricism  and  satire  better  perceived  ; — such  artistic  mastery  that 
nobody  in  his  own  time  or  since  has  surpassed  or  equalled  him  in 
the  ballad ; — and  finally  his  entire  work  gives  utterance  to  a  cry  of 
profound  anguish  by  which  we  ourselves  are  moved  in  our  innermost 
being. 

Be  it  added  that  to  Villon  belongs  the  merit  of  having  at  least 
"  summarised  "  what  Boileau  believed  he  had  "cleared  up." — Villon's 
ideal  is  assuredly  far  removed  from  that  of  the  "  courteous  poetry," 
but  if  there  exists  a  poetry  of  adventure  and  Bohemian  life  it  is 
his ; — and  he  did  not  invent  it. — Again,  the  form  in  which  death 
haunted  the  imaginations  of  the  Middle  Ages  has  had  no  more 
eloquent  interpreter  [Cf.  the  Vers  de  la  Mort  by  the  Monk  Helinand 
in  the  Histoire  litteraire  de  la  France,  vol.  xiii.]; — and  if  the 
courteous  poetry  itself,  though  it  went  the  wrong  way  to  work,  tended 
nevertheless  to  liberate  from  all  restraint  the  expression  of  the  poet's 
personality  ; — this  end,  too,  was  attained  by  Villon. 


32  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

jadis  ?  But  it  was  not  the  example  of  Villon  that  was 
followed.  The  men  who  founded  a  school  were  the 
"  great  rhetoricians "  :  Jean  Meschinot,  Jean  Molinet, 
Guillaume  Cretin, — the  Raminagrobis  of  Rabelais, — Jean 
Marot,  Lemaire  de  Beiges.  Already  prosaic  with  Alain 
Chartier,  poetry  with  these  writers  becomes  pretentiously 
didactic.  Were  they  alive  to  the  fact  themselves ;  and, 
"  being  unable  to  make  their  poetry  beautiful,"  was  it 
for  this  reason  that  they  made  it  "artificial"  by  over- 
loading it  with  infinite  complications  and  regrettable 
ornament?  Their  poetry  reminds  us  of  the  village 
queen  of  whom  Pascal  will  somewhere  write,  the  "pretty 
maid,  all  mirrors  and  chains,  who  admires  herself  but 
who  provokes  laughter."  And  the  result  is  that  nothing 
of  their  work  has  remained,  and  it  cannot  even  be  said 
that  the  succeeding  age  turned  its  fragments  to  account. 
Nevertheless,  in  their  own  time  they  choked,  as  it  were, 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Villon's  authentic  works  consist  of  his  two 
Testaments  and  of  five  Ballades,  the  best  edition  of  which  is  that 
of  M.  Longnon  referred  to  above. 

He  is  the  author  neither  of  the  Repues  /ranches  nor  of  the  Franc 
archer  de  Bagnolet,  which  are  persistently  given  a  place  hi  almost  all 
editions  of  his  works  ; — and  of  the  eleven  Ballades  in  jobelin  or  slang 
which  are  attributed  to  him,  there  are  at  least  four  that  are  certainly 
not  by  him ; — but  all  these  pieces,  since  they  are  attributed  to  him, 
are  of  great  interest,  as  they  prove  for  this  very  reason  the  represen- 
tative character  of  his  work  ; — and  that  his  contemporaries  appreciated 
it  at  once. 

VIII.— The  Mysteries. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Onesime  Leroy,  Etudes  sur  les  mysteres,  Paris, 
1837; — Charles  Magnin,  les  Origines  du  theatre  nwderne,  Paris,  1846, 
1847,  1858,  Journal  des  Savants  ; — Edelestand  du  Meril,  les  Origines 
latines  du  theatre  moderne,  Paris,  1849 ; — Coussemaker,  Drames 
liturgiques,  Eennes,  1860; — Leon  Gautier,  les  Origines  du  theatre 
moderne,  in  the  newspaper  le  Monde,  1873  ; — and  les  Tropes,  Paris, 
1887 ; — Marius  Sepet,  le  Drame  Chretien  au  Moyen-dge,  Paris,  1877 ; — 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  66 

the  reputation  of  Villon,  and  more  than  fifty  years  will 
elapse  before  the  Lunettes  des  princes  or  the  Complainte 
sur  le  trepas  de  Messire  Guillaume  de  Byssipat  will  be 
surpassed  in  the  estimation  of  poets  by  the  Petit  and 
the  Grand  Testament. 

In  the  same  lamentable  fashion  as  in  the  rhapsodies  of 
the  "  great  rhetoricians,"  the  sterility  of  the  period  comes 
into  view  in  connection  with  the  apparent  abundance  of 
Mysteries,  supposing  indeed  the  Mysteries  to  belong  to 
the  history  of  literature,  and  their  text  to  be  of  greater 
value  than  that  of  a  modern  opera  libretto.  For  just  as 
in  an  opera  it  is  first  of  all  the  music  and  in  the  next 
place  the  scenery,  costumes,  and  ballet  that  by  definition 
are  the  essential  features  of  this  class  of  work,  while  the 
text  in  reality  is  only  the  peg  on  which  they  are  hung ; 
so  in  our  great  Mysteries  the  principal,  capital,  and 
characteristic  element  is  the  spectacle  or  representation, 

and  les  Prophetes  du  Christ,  1878  ; — Petit  de  Julleville,  les  Mysteres, 
Paris,  1880 ; — A.  d'Ancona,  Origini  del  teatro  in  Italia,  Florence, 
1872 ; — W.  Creizenach,  Geschichte  des  neueren  Dramas,  Halle,  1893. 

2.  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MYSTERIES. 

A.  The  origin  of  the  Mysteries ; — and  in  this  connection  of  the 
analogy  between  the  origin  of  French  mediaeval  drama  and  that  of 
Greek  drama ; — but  while  this  analogy  should  be  pointed  out  it  must 
not  be  exaggerated. — Of  the  Tropes  or  interpolations  in  liturgical 
texts,  and  what  was  the  object  of  the  Church  in  allowing  them  : — it 
doubtless  desired  to  add  to  the  solemnity  of  certain  services  or  certain 
fetes  ; — to  interest  the  faithful  in  a  more  active  manner  in  the  cele- 
bration of  worship  ; — to  maintain  its  hold  on  them,  to  fix  their 
attention  and  to  instruct  them  by  "  amusing  them  "  [Cf.  down  to  our 
own  time  the  "pomps"  and  "  processions  "]. — Gradual  formation  of 
the  liturgical  drama : — by  the  introduction  of  the  vulgar  tongue  into 
the  recognised  texts ; — by  the  material  and  costumed  representation 
of  the  "mystery"  appropriate  to  the  season;  [Cf.  the  dramas 
I'Epoux  and  the  Prophetes  du  Christ]  ; — by  the  intervention  of 
lay  authors. — The  Representation  d'Adam,  and  the  fragment  of 
the  Resurrection. — Removal  of  the  site  of  the  stage. — Why  was  it 

4 


or  more  exactly  the  exhibition.  Whether  clerks  or 
laymen,  the  authors,  or,  as  it  would  be  more  correct  to 
term  them,  the  purveyors  of  our  Mysteries,  do  not  even 
propose  to  narrate  the  "  drama  of  the  Passion,"  to  teach 
the  masses  new  truths,  or  to  present  them  old  truths  in 
a  new  guise;  their  aim,  or  rather  their  office,  all  that 
they  do  and  all  that  is  asked  of  them,  is  merely  to  sketch 
a  sort  of  scenario,  which  shall  serve  as  a  pretext  to  the 
burgesses  of  Tours  or  of  Orleans  for  mounting  on  the 
stage  arrayed  in  resplendent  finery, — and  thus  for  pro- 
curing themselves  the  kind  of  pleasure  afforded  them 
to-day  by  a  so-called  historical  "cavalcade."  At  the 
same  time,  for  this  very  reason,  and  on  account  of  the 
living  reality  of  the  topical  matter  they  contain  of  the 
time  of  Louis  XI.  or  of  Charles  VII.,  it  is  not  to  be 
gainsaid  that  the  Mysteries  are  precious  documents  for 
the  history  of  manners. 

that  the  development  of  the  liturgical  drama  was  at  a  standstill 
for  nearly  two  centuries  ? — Impossibility  of  answering  the  question ; 
— and  whether  this  impossibility  does  not  throw  some  doubt  on  the 
alleged  "continuity"  of  the  evolution  of  the  drama  during  the 
Middle  Ages. — That  in  any  case  the  two  plays  of  the  thirteenth 
century  that  have  come  down  to  us  [the  Jeu  de  Saint  Nicolas,  by 
Jean  Bodel,  and  the  Miracle  de  Theophile,  by  Rutebeuf]  do  not  re- 
establish the  continuity; — any  more  than  do  the  Miracles  de  Notre- 
Dame; — which  have  only  a  remote  connection  with  the  Mysteries. 

B.  THE  MIRACLE  PLAYS. — They  consist  of  an  incident  taken  from 
ordinary  life,  and  terminating  in  the  intervention  of  the  Virgin  or 
of  a  saint; — about  the  climax,  and  especially  about  "the  plot"  of 
which,  there  is  nothing  obligatory; — there  is  not  necessarily  any- 
thing more  or  less  historic  about  the  personages  of  these  plays ; — 
they  can  scarcely  be  said  to  aim  at  edifying  and  still  less  at  in- 
structing;— indeed  they  are  often  hostile  to  the  clergy; — and  there 
is  no  evidence  that  the  Church  took  them  under  its  protection. — 
In  consequence,  their  chief  point  of  resemblance  with  the  Myste- 
ries is  that  they  promoted  a  taste  for  the  theatre; — which  they 
may  even  be  said  to  have  developed  by  means  of  the  fraternities, 


THE   MIDDLE   AGES  35 

But  are  not  a  "  royal  ordinance "  or  a  "  decree  of 
Parliament "  also  "  documents "  ?  and  to  whom  has  it 
equally  ever  occurred  to  regard  them  as  "  literature  "  ? 

The  only  name  in  this  period,  apart  from  that  of 
Villon,  which  stands  out  and  survives  is  that  of  Philippe 
de  Commynes.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to  compare, 
as  has  been  done,  Commynes  with  his  contemporary 
Machiavelli.  The  "  Decades  "  or  "  The  Prince  "  of  the 
great  Italian  are  written  in  a  very  different  style ;  their 
value  and  significance  are  very  different  from  that  of  the 
Mtmoires  of  the  shrewd  servant  of  Charles  the  Bold  and 
Louis  XI.  Still  he,  too,  has  his  merits  !  Commynes  has 
few  prejudices, — always  an  excellent  qualification  for 
writing  history, — and  above  all  he  lived  on  familiar 
terms  with  one  of  the  most  original  models  an  artist 
has  ever  been  offered.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  un- 
fortunate that  his  example,  as  also  happened  to  Villon, 

the  puys,  or  the  chambers  of  rJietoric. — That  in  contrast  to  these 
characteristics,  the  Mysteries  for  their  part  are  really  stage  represen- 
tations of  the  "  mysteries  "  of  religion ; — a  fact  that  relieves  us  of  the 
necessity  of  dilating  upon  the  signification  and  etymology  of  their 
name. — Herein  moreover,  and  not  in  any  other  peculiarity,  lies  their 
true  character ;— which  is  not  altered  by  the  episodic  scenes  in  which 
they  abound ; — as  is  further  proved  by  the  only  classification  that  can 
be  given  of  them. 

C.  THE  DRAMATIC  CYCLES. — They  are  three  in  number:  (1)  the 
Cycle  de  VAnc-ien  Testament;  (2)  the  Cycle  tin  Nottveau  Testament ; 
and  (3)  the  Cycle  des  Saints.  That  in  the  first  of  these  three  cycles 
none  of  the  Biblical  themes  are  treated  for  their  own  sake, — as  in  the 
Esther  or  the  Athalie  of  Racine  for  example ; — but  solely  in  their  con- 
nection with  the  coming  of  Christ, — whose  life  entirety  takes  up  the 
second  cycle. — This  peculiarity  is  the  explanation  and  the  only  ex- 
planation : — of  the  choice  of  episodes  [Job,  Tobiah,  Daniel,  Judith, 
Esther]  ; — of  the  grossness  of  some  of  them,  which  is  meant  to  bring 
into  keener  relief  the  figure  of  Christ ; — and  finally  of  the  part  that  was 
long  taken  by  the  clergy  in  the  representation  of  the  Mysteries. — Of 
the  Cycle  dcs  Saints  and  of  its  generally  local  character; — which  is 


36  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

bore  no  fruit,  but  that  on  the  contrary,  far  from  his  having 
given  rise  to  a  literary  movement,  in  him  and  with  him 
our  chroniclers  come  to  an  end.  His  talent  is  merely  an 
accident,  as  was  that  of  Villon ;  and  not  only  is  it  not 
from  him  that  our  classical  historians  descend,  but  he 
can  scarcely  be  regarded  even  as  the  forerunner  of  those 
authors  of  Memoirs,  who  are  soon  to  become  so  numerous 
in  the  history  of  our  literature. 

Thus,  whichever  way  we  look,  and  neglecting  one  or 
two  exceptions  such  as  there  must  always  be,  we  dis- 
cover nothing  but  symptoms  of  decadence,  and  it  seems 
that  the  literature  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  all  its  branches, 
at  any  rate  in  France,  has  met  with  a  check  in  its  growth 
at  the  climacteric  moment  of  its  development.  This 
amounts  to  saying  that  the  literature  we  refer  to  was 
marked  by  all  the  qualities  that  are  characteristic  of 
childhood;  and  for  this  reason  we  may  still  turn  to  it 

not  the  more  lay  on  that  account.  —  The  Mysteries  are  "  object 
lessons,"  a  mode  of  teaching  the  masses  the  essential  truths  of 
religion ;  and  as  has  been  said,  a  means  of  obtaining  a  hold  on  the 
masses. — That  there  are  only  two  Mysteries  that  constitute  an 
exception : — the  Mystere  du  Siege  (V Orleans  and  the  Mystere  de 
Troie; — but  the  mood  that  inspired  the  former  had  nothing  in- 
compatible with  the  essential  character  of  the  sacred  Mysteries 
— and  that  the  latter  was  doubtless  never  represented. 

D.  THE  VALUE  OF  THE  MYSTERIES, — and  that  in  general,  from  a 
literary  point  of  view,  they  are  mediocrity  itself; — which  is  easily 
understandable  granting  that  the  drama  is  as  self-dependent  as 
any  other  independent  art ; — further  it  is  only  by  an  accident  that 
their  history  coincides  with  that  of  literature. — But  the  Mysteries 
are  not  even  drama :  they  are  merely  "  spectacle," — and  their  authors 
only  handled  them  as  such. — That  this  opinion  is  borne  out  by  the 
very  conditions  under  which  the  Mysteries  were  represented. — And 
by  this  is  not  meant  that  they  do  not  occasionally  contain  interesting 
"incidents,"  for  such  incidents  are  found  in  some  of  the  Mysteries 
of  the  Cycle  des  Saints ; — scenes  in  which  there  are  traces  of  the 
greatness  of  the  model,  as  in  the  Mysteries  of  the  Cycle  de  VAncien 


THE   MIDDLE   AGES  37 

to-day,  as  to  a  purer  source,  and  refresh  in  it  our 
fevered  imaginations.  But  from  the  qualities  of  child- 
hood it  passed  by  an  abrupt  transition  to  the  infir- 
mities of  decrepitude,  and  nothing  or  scarcely  anything 
occupies  the  interval.  Never  perhaps  since  the  remote 
times  of  Homer  and  the  Greek  epopee  had  epic  matter 
been  more  abundant,  richer,  and  fresher  than  that  of 
the  Chansons  de  Geste  or  the  Romans  de  la  Table- 
Eonde.  We  ourselves  are  still  living  on  it  !  Yet 
during  four  hundred  years,  from  one  poem  to  another, 
from  the  earliest  Chansons  de  geste  to  the  latest 
prose  versions  of  the  Bibliotheque  bleue,  this  epic 
matter  floated  in  a  diffuse  state,  without  any  of  our 
old  trouveres,  the  author  of  Roland,  as  little  as  that 
of  Parsifal,  being  successful  in  giving  it  a  shape  that 
should  present  it  "  under  its  eternal  aspect."  The 
"  dramatists  "  did  not  perceive  the  fact  that  the  nature 

Testament; — and  curious  "episodes"  of  a  more  or  less  realistic 
character  as  in  the  Cycle  du  Nouveau  Testament ; — but  what  is 
meant  is  that  they  have  no  literary  value ; — that  there  is  no  cause  to 
regret  their  decadence  or  their  extinction, — and  that  they  furnished 
no  element  even  to  the  "  Christian"  drama  of  the  classic  period. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  Mystere  du  Vieux  Testament,  edited  by 
James  de  Kothschild  and  Emile  Picot,  Paris,  1878-1891  ; — the 
Mystere  de  la  Passion,  by  Arnoul  Greban,  edited  by  MM.  Gaston 
Paris  and  Gaston  Raynaud,  Paris,  1878; — Les  Actes  des  Apotres,  by 
Simon  and  Arnoul  Greban,  in  62,000  verses ; — the  Mystercs  de 
Sainte  Barbe,  Saint  Denis,  Saint  Laurent,  Saint  Louis,  &c. ; — the 
Mystere  du  Siege  d'Orleans,  by  MM.  Guessard  and  Certain  in  the 
collection  of  Documents  inedits  sur  I'histoire  de  France,  Paris,  1862. 

Further,  excellent  analyses  will  be  found  of  all  the  Mysteries  that 
have  come  down  to  us,  whether  in  manuscript  or  printed,  in  the  second 
volume  of  M.  Petit  de  Julleville's  work  on  the  Mysteries. 

IX. — Philippe  de  Commynes  [Chateau  de  Coinmynes,  1447 ; 
f  1511,  Chateau  d'Argenton]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Lenglet  du  Fresnoy  in  his  edition  of  the  Memoires, 


38  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FEENCH  LITEEATUEE 

or  essence  of  drama  is  action ;  and  for  want  of  this  in- 
tuition, it  is  seen,  from  the  procession  it  began  by  being, 
to  become  at  first  an  exhibition,  after  an  exhibition  a 
spectacle,  and  finally  after  a  spectacle  a  show  of  the  sort 
that  is  seen  at  fairs.  And  lyric  poetry,  fettered  in  its 
flight  by  circumstances,  had  no  sooner  spread  its  wings 
than  it  was  constrained  to  fold  them,  and  confining  its 
free  inspiration  in  poems  of  a  conventional  impersonality, 
to  content  itself  with  the  commonplaces  of  the  ' '  cour- 
teous "  poetry.  What  has  just  been  said  is  expressed  in  a 
general  way,  when  it  is  affirmed  that  the  Renaissance,  far 
from  having  accomplished  a  work  of  destruction,  did  not 
even  interrupt  what  was  already  in  progress.  If  the  litera- 
ture of  the  Middle  Ages  were  not  dead  when  the  spirit  of 
the  Renaissance  began  to  get  abroad  in  the  world,  it  had 
been  expiring  for  two  hundred  years  and  more.  It  is 
therefore  possible,  it  is  even  probable,  that  in  the  absence 

1747 ; — Mile  Dupont's  Notice  preceding  her  edition  of  the  Memoires, 
Paris,  1840 ; — Kervyn  de  Lettenhove,  Lettres  et  negotiations  de 
Philippe  de  Commynes,  Brussels,  1867,  1874 ; — Chantelauze,  Notice 
preceding  his  edition  of  the  Memoires,  Paris,  1880 ; — Fierville,  Docu- 
ments inedits  sur  Philippe  de  Commynes,  Paris,  1881. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — The  favourite  of  Charles  the  Bold 
and  the  counsellor  of  Louis  XI. — His  numerous  missions  and  his 
political  role. — His  disgrace,  1486. — He  reappears  at  court,  1492. — 
His  retirement,  1498.— His  last  years,  1505-1510; — and  his  death. 

Originality  of  Commynes. — He  is  himself,  and  this  distinguishes 
him  from  the  chroniclers  contemporary  with  him  ; — who,  whether 
they  write  in  French  or  Latin,  are  scarcely  more  than  the  expression 
of  their  time ; — reflecting  public  opinion  rather  than  uttering  their 
own  thoughts. — His  experience  of  public  affairs. — Qualities  of  his 
Memoires ; — they  are  those  of  a  politician ; — and  also  of  a  psychologist 
[Cf.  Memoires,  iv.  6,  and  vii.  9] . — It  may  even  be  said  that  in  places 
they  are  those  of  a  philosopher  [Cf.  ii.  6,  for  example,  and  v.  18]. — 
But  they  are  not  the  work  of  an  artist  [Cf.  Froissart]  ; — or  of  an 
historian  who  is  at  the  same  time  a  moralist — capable,  that  is,  of 
deducing  from  events  a  signification  of  greater  import  than  the  facts 


THE    MIDDLE   AGES  39 

of  the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance  some  other  new  spirit 
would  have  entered  and  quickened  this  remnant  of  an 
existence.  But  this  did  not  happen ;  and  in  the  mean- 
time the  Renaissance  was  about  to  provide  us  with 
three  things  we  had  so  far  lacked  :  an  artistic  model, 
by  setting  before  us  the  great  examples  of  antiquity  ; 
the  ambition  to  reproduce  and  imitate  the  ancient  forms 
of  art ;  and  to  fill  up  these  forms,  if  I  may  so  express 
myself,  new  methods,  in  the  shape  of  a  new  manner  of 
observing  nature  and  man. 

themselves ; — It  is  this  trait  among  others  that  distinguishes  him  from 
his  contemporary  Machiavelli ; — and  not  to  mention  his  ignorance  of 
Latin  or  of  classical  traditions. — His  qualities  as  a  writer ; — and  the 
extent  to  which  they  are  marked  by  the  spirit  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

3.  THE  WORK. — Apart  from  his  "  negociations,"  the  work  of 
Commynes  is  restricted  to  his  Memoires.  He  did  not  have  the  time 
to  finish  them,  and  they  stop  at  1498. 

The  first  edition  of  them  appeared  in  1524,  under  the  title  of 
Chronique  de  Louis  XI. ;  and  as  to  the  last  portion  in  1528,  under  the 
title  of  Chronique  de  Charles  VIII. 

The  best  modern  editions  are  those  of  Mile  Dupont,  Paris,  1840 ; — 
and  Chantelauze's  edition,  Paris,  1881. 


BOOK  II 

CHAPTEK    I 
THE    FORMATION   OF  THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL 

I 

It  was  in  Italy  that  the  signal  was  given,  and  it  was 
the  humanists  who  gave  it.  This  name  of  humanists  is 
applied  to  the  poets,  to  the  men  of  culture — and  also  to 
the  pedants — who  revived  or  rather  who  rediscovered  the 

THE  AUTHORS  AND  THEIR  WORKS 

FIRST  PEEIOD 

Villon  to  Ronsard 

1490-1550 

I.— Clement  Marot  [Cahors,  1495  ;  f  1544,  Turin]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES.  —  L' 'Adolescence  and  la  Suite  de  V Adolescence 
Clementine*; — Bayle  :  Dictionnaire  historique  et  critique,  art. 
MAROT. — Lenglet  du  Fresnoy  in  his  edition  of  the  Works  of  Marot, 
vols.  i.  and  vi. ; — Goujet :  Bibliotheque  francaise,  vol.  xi. ; — Ch. 
d'Hericault,  (Euvres  choisies  de  Marot,  introduction,  Paris,  1867  ; 

1  We  expressly  include  the  works  of  a  writer  among  the  Sources  of  his  biography 
only  when  they  contain,  as  dose  I' Adolescence  Clementine,  information  that  is 
personal  and  given  as  such  by  the  author. 

40 


THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  41 

lost  significance  of  antiquity.  Not  that  they  themselves 
always  appreciated  it  quite  aright,  or  more  particularly, 
as  was  too  long  believed,  that  the  Middle  Ages  entirely 
ignored  it.  The  Middle  Ages  were  acquainted  with  Cicero 
and  Virgil,  Livy  and  Horace,  Ovid  and  Seneca,  Plautus 
and  Juvenal ;  they  even  translated  and  imitated  them ! 
But  "they  had  only  turned  them  to  account,  says  an 
historian  there  is  little  reason  to  mistrust, — Canon  J. 
Janssen,  in  his  memorable  work  on  the  Reformation  in 
Germany, — as  a  medium  that  might  help  them  to  a  more 
profound  understanding  of  Christianity,  and  to  an  im- 
provement of  the  moral  life  "  ;  and  this  was  doubtless  a 
perfectly  legitimate  manner  of  making  use  of  them,  but 
it  was  possible  to  conceive  a  different  manner.  The  chief 
innovation  effected  by  humanism  was  to  make  the  object 
of  the  study  or  knowledge  of  Latin  antiquity  that  study  or 

— 0.  Douen :  Clement  Marot  et  le  Psautier  huguenot,  Paris,  1878  ; — 
G.  Guiffrey :  (Euvres  de  Marot,  vols.  i.  and  ii.,  which  are  all  that 
have  appeared,  Paris,  n.d. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  POET.  —  Did  he  belong  to  Quercv  or  to 
Normandy? — The  disciple  of  his  father,  Jean  Marot,  and  of  the 
"  great  rhetoricians  "  ; — his  youth  and  his  love  affairs  ; — his  edition  of 
the  Eommant  de  la  Base,  1527. — The  valet  de  chambre  of  Fra^ois  I. 
— Marot's  imprisonments. — The  publication  of  I' Adolescence  Clemen- 
tine, 1532 ;  and  the  edition  of  the  Works  of  Villon,  1533. — Marot  and 
Protestantism. — His  stay  at  Ferrara. — Return  to  Paris. — The  Traduc- 
tion  des  Psaumes,  1541. — Marot  in  Geneva ; — his  quarrels  with  Calvin  ; 
— he  leaves  Geneva  for  Turin,  where  he  dies  in  1544. 

Esteem  in  which  Marot  is  held  ; — and  the  qualities  that  justify  it  : 
wit,  clearness,  and  sly  humour. — That  these  qualities  are  scarcely 
those  of  a  poet,  but  rather  of  a  prose  writer,  who  should  have  fitted 
rhymes  to  his  prose. — Marot  possessed  neither  the  intensity  of  feeling, 
nor  the  picturesqueness  of  vision,  nor  the  vividness  of  style  of  a  poet ; 
— Marot's  ideas  commonplace  ; — and  that  Marot  must  not  be  under- 
estimated ; — but  that  it  is  necessary  to  assign  him  no  more  than  his 
proper  value,  if  the  work  of  Ronsard  and  the  reform  he  accomplished 
are  to  be  rightly  appreciated. 


42  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  FEENCH  LITEEATUEE 

knowledge  itself,  and  in  this  way  to  transform,  solely  by 
displacing  them,  the  very  foundations  of  education  and 
intellectual  culture.  For  there  is  a  wide  difference 
between  the  disposition  of  mind  which  induces  the 
reader  to  search  the  Tusculanae  or  the  sixth  book  of  the 
Mneid  for  premonitory  signs  of  the  approaching  advent 
of  Christianity,  and  that  which  leads  him  merely  to  seek 
in  these  works,  with  a  view  to  deriving  pleasure  from 
them,  the  evidences  of  the  melancholy  genius  of  Virgil 
or  of  the  eloquence  of  Cicero.  Numerous  points  which 
were  overlooked  in  the  first  case  came  into  sight  in  the 
second,  aroused  attention  and  held  it.  Suppose  that  at 
the  present  day  we  were  to  affect  to  regard  Eabelais 
and  Moliere  merely  as  the  "  forerunners  of  the  French 
Revolution" — and  they  are  its  forerunners  in  a  certain 
measure  and  a  certain  sense — and  endeavour  to  count 


3.  THE  WORKS. — The  works  of  Marot  are  composed  :  (1 )  of 
Translations  and  Allegories,  such  as  his  translation  of  the  Meta- 
morphoses, bk.  i.  and  ii.,  and  his  Temple  de  Cupido,  or  again  his 
Enfer ; — (2)  of  Chants  royaux,  Ballads,  and  Bondeaux  ; — (3)  of 
Elegies,  Epistles,  and  Epigrams ; — (4)  of  occasional  pieces,  that 
figure  in  anthologies  under  the  titles  Etrennes,  Epitaphes,  Blasons, 
Cimetieres,  and  Complaintes ; — (5)  of  his  translation  of  fifty  of  the 
Psalnis. 

The  best  editions  are  the  Niort  edition,  1596,  published  by  Thomas 
Portau; — Lenglet  du  Fresnoy's  edition,  The  Hague,  1731,  Gosse  and 
Neaulme ; — and  among  the  modern  editions,  that  published  at  Lyons 
by  Scheuring,  1869 ; — and  that  of  Guiffrey,  which  unhappily  has 
remained  unfinished. 

II. — Marguerite  de  ValoiS  [Angouleme,  1492  ;  f 1549,  Chateau 
d'Odos] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Brantome  :  Les  Dames  Illustres,  sixth  discourse, 
article  6 ; — Bayle,  Dictionnaire  historique,  article  MARGUERITE; — 
Genin:  Notice  sur  Marguerite  preceding  his  edition  of  the  Lettres, 
Paris,  1841 ; — Leroux  de  Lincy :  Notice  preceding  his  edition  of  the 
Heptameron,  Paris,  1853 ; — La  Ferriere :  Le  Livre  de  depenses  de  la 


THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  43 

how  many  of  their  most  characteristic  traits  would  be 
lost  for  us.  To  search  Tartuffe  with  a  view  to  learning 
the  religious  opinions  of  Moliere  is  one  way  of  reading  the 
work,  but  not  the  only  way, — and  above  all  not  the  most 
literary  way.  [Cf.  Janssen,  VAllemagne  et  la  Eeforme  ; 
French  translation,  Paris,  1887,  vols.  i.  and  ii. ;  and  Furcy- 
Eaynaud's  translation  of  Pastor's  Histoire  des  Papes, 
Paris,  1888,  vol.  i.] 

On  the  other  hand,  while  the  Middle  Ages  were  fairly 
well  acquainted  with  Latin  literature,  they  were  almost 
wholly  ignorant  of  Greek  literature.  Grcecum  est,  non 
legitur  !  Greek  was  the  language  of  the  chief  heresies, 
the  language  of  Nestorius,  Arius,  and  Eutyches.  It 
is  true  indeed  that  in  spite  of  the  proverb,  St.  Thomas 
d'Acquinas,  to  mention  but  him,  was  deeply  versed  in 
Aristotle.  But  it  does  not  seem  that  the  Middle  Ages 

reine  de  Navarre,  Paris,  1862 ; — Marguerite  de  Valois,  by  the  author 
of  Robert  Emmet  [Ctesse  d'HaussonvilleJ ,  Paris,  1870. 

2.  THE  WOMAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — The  mischances  of  a  royal 
reputation ; — and  how  Marguerite  has  been  the  victim  of  the  excess 
or  the  indiscreetness  of  her  affection  for  her  brother,  Francois  I. ; — 
and  of  the  liking  of  biographers  for  scandalous  anecdotes ;— and  of 
her  homonymy  with  another  Marguerite,  whose  memory  has  been 
popularised  by  Le  Pre  aux  Clercs,  Les  Huguenots,  and  La  Heine 
Margot. — But  the  evidence  of  her  contemporaries, — and  the  examina- 
tion of  her  works  themselves,  the  Heptameron  included, — give  an 
exactly  contrary  idea  of  her. 

Composition  of  the  Heptameron ; — testimony  of  Brantorne  ; — com- 
parison between  the  Heptameron  and  Boccaccio's  Decameron  and  the 
Propos  et  Joyeux  devis  of  Bonaventure  des  Periers.  That  the  gross- 
ness  of  some  of  the  stories  in  it  merely  proves  the  grossness  of  the 
manners  and  language  of  the  time ; — but  that  Marguerite's  object  was 
to  combat  this  grossness ; — and  that?  the  proof  of  this  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Dialogues  that  separate  the  "  days." — The  historical  allusions  in  the 
Heptameron, — that  it  is  the  book  of  a  virtuous  woman  and  even  of  a 
woman  somewhat  given  to  "  preaching" ; — testimony  of  du  Verdier  in 
his  Bibliotheque,  vol.  iv.,  edition  of  1772.  The  study  of  the  Poesies 


44  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

were  acquainted  with  Homer,  Herodotus,  .ZEschylus, 
Sophocles,  Euripides,  Aristophanes,  Pindar,  Demos- 
thenes, and  the  Alexandrians.  How  could  a  knowledge 
have  been  acquired  of  these  writers  since  there  was 
not  a  single  professor  of  Greek  at  the  University  of 
Paris?  In  consequence,  when  the  Humanists  began  to 
steep  themselves  in  Grecian  lore,  they  inaugurated  a 
veritable  revolution.  The  fact  is  too  commonly  over- 
looked when  it  is  attempted,  doubtless  with  a  view  to 
lessening  our  debt  to  the  Renaissance,  to  contest  the 
originality  of  that  movement.  One  of  the  reasons, 
probably,  why  the  Renaissance  did  not  come  to  a  head 
sooner,  is  that  the  study  of  Latin  was  insufficient 
to  provoke  it.  To  accomplish  this  the  dispersion  was 
necessary  of  the  Greek  element  throughout  the  Europe 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  as  the  consequence  of  the 

and  the  Lettres  confirms  this  interpretation  ; — since  Marguerite's 
Poesies  are  in  general  pious  poetry; — "She  was  very  fond  of  com- 
posing devout  verses,"  says  Brantome,  "  for  she  was  much  inclined 
to  godliness"; — and  her  Lettres,  when  they  were  not  business 
letters  or  poetical  letters,  are  "mystic"  letters. — Of  Marguerite's 
attitude  towards  Protestantism. — The  incident  of  the  Miroir  de  frame 
pecheresse. — The  last  years  of  Marguerite  and  her  death. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Les  Marguerites  de  la  Marguerite  des  Princesses, 
1547 ; — L'Heptameron  des  nouvelles  de  la  Heine  de  Navarre,  first 
edition,  1558,  and  second  edition,  1559 ; — Lettres  de  Marguerite 
d'Angouleme,  published  by  Genin,  Paris,  1841,  for  the  Societe  de 
I'histoire  de  France ; — Dernieres  poesies  de  la  Heine  de  Navarre, 
edited  by  Abel  Lefranc,  Paris,  1896. 

The  best  edition  of  the  Heptameron  is  that  of  Leroux  de  Lincy. 

III.— FranQOiS  Rabelais  [Chinon,  1483,  or  90  or  95;  I  1552  or 
53,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Niceron  in  his  Homines  illustrcs,  vol.  xxxii.  ;— 
Chaufepie,  in  his  Dictionnaire,  article  "Rabelais,"  very  exhaustive 
and  very  important ; — J.  Ch.  Brunet :  Becherches  sur  les  editions 
originates  de  Rabelais,  Paris,  1834,  and  the  new  edition,  greatly 


THE    FOEMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  45 

taking  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks.  And  even  if 
it  be  impossible  to  say  in  what  manner,  or  precisely 
in  what  connection,  the  influence  made  itself  felt,  its 
effects  are  not  on  this  account  less  certain,  but  merely 
more  hidden  and  far  reaching.  [Cf.  Emile  Egger, 
I'Hellenisme  en  France,  Paris,  1869 ;  and  Voigt,  Die 
Wiederbelebung  des  classiclien  AltertJmms.] 

It  is  needful,  too,  to  take  into  account  the  essential 
quality  of  the  Italian  genius.  "Does  the  human  plant," 
in  Alfieri's  famous  words,  "grow  more  sturdily  in 
Italy  than  elsewhere?"  The  question  is  open  to  dis- 
cussion, and  it  might  be  found  that  there  is  much 
ingenuousness  in  the  sort  of  admiring  bewilderment  our 
dilettanti  experience  or  affect  to  experience  in  presence  of 
a  Caesar  Borgia — who,  perhaps,  as  the  son  of  his  father, 
was  as  much  a  Spaniard  as  an  Italian.  What,  however, 

augmented,  Paris,  1852 ; — A.  Mayrargues :  Rabelais,  Paris,  1868 ; 
—  Eugene  Noel :  Rabelais  et  son  oeuvre,  Paris,  1870 ;  —  Emile 
Gebhart :  Rabelais  et  la  Renaissance,  Paris,  1887,  and  second  edition, 
Paris,  1893; — Jean  Fleury:  Rabelais,  Paris,  1877; — Paul  Stapfer: 
Rabelais,  sa  personne,  son  genie  et  son  oeuvre,  Paris,  1889 ; — Rene 
Millet :  Rabelais,  Paris,  1892,  in  the  collection  of  Grands  Ecrivains 
francais ; — and  finally  the  Notices  or  Notes  in  the  editions  of  Le 
Duchat,  le  Motteux,  Desoer,  Burgaud  des  Marets,  Moland,  and 
Marty-Laveaux. 

2.  THE  LEGEND  OF  EABELAIS. — How  it  was  formed  ; — the  attacks  of 
his  contemporaries ; — Eon  sard's  epitaph  on  Eabelais  : 

A  vine  will  grow  up 
From  the  stomach  and  paunch 
Of  good  Eabelais  who  was  drinking 
Always,  while  he  lived  ;  .  .  . 

— Eabelais'  quarrels  with  the  monks ; — with  the  Sorbonne ; — with 
Calvin ; — the  declarations  in  the  Prologues ; — the  general  character  of 
Eabelais'  work ; — and  in  this  connection,  that  in  spite  of  the  tendency 
of  the  critics  to  make  men  resemble  their  works, — there  was  nothing 
either  of  the  drunkard  or  the  buffoon,  nor  even  of  the  revolutionary 


46  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

is  undeniable  is  that  Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio  only 
deserved  to  be  called  the  "  first  of  the  moderns  "  because 
they  were  distinguished  from  their  contemporaries  by  a 
characteristic  sign,  whose  nature  we  shall  attempt  shortly 
to  make  clear.  Still  less  can  we  disregard  the  conse- 
quences of  the  wars  of  Charles  VIII.,  Louis  XII.,  and 
Fran9ois  I.  The  truth  is  that  for  us  Frenchmen  our 
first  contact  with  Italy  was  a  sort  of  revelation.  "Amid 
the  feudal  barbarity  of  which  the  fifteenth  century  still 
bore  the  imprint,  Italy — says  Michelet — offered  the 
spectacle  of  an  ancient  civilisation.  It  commanded  the 
respect  of  foreigners  by  its  long-standing  authority  in 
religion  and  the  pomp  of  its  opulence  and  arts."  It 
would  be  impossible  to  state  the  truth  better  or  more  ac- 
curately. The  charm  of  the  Italian  climate  and  manners 
may  be  adduced  as  well.  The  Italy  of  the  Kenaissance, 

about  Rabelais. — Ginguene's  opuscule  dealing  with  "  the  authority 
of  Rabelais  in  the  present  revolution"  (1791); — and  the  notes  in 
Esmangart  and  Johanneau's  edition. 

3.  RABELAIS'  WORK. 

A.  The  Sources  of  the  Romance, — Its  mythical  or  mythological 
ground-work  [Cf.  P.  Sebillot,  Gargantua  dans  Ics  traditions  popu- 
laircs~]  ; — and  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  Gargantua  is  a  "  solar 
myth." — Moreover  it  is  not  certain  that  he  is  a  caricature  of 
Fran9ois  I. — The  Gallic  ground-work  and  the  tradition  of  the  Middle 
Ages. — The  Grseco-Latin  antiquity,  and  in  this  connection  of  Rabe- 
lais' erudition  :  totius  encyclopcedice  profundissimum  abyssum. — The 
writers  of  the  Renaissance  ; — of  some  of  Rabelais'  borrowings  :  from 
Sir  Thomas  More  [the  Abbey  of  Thelema], — from  Merlin  Coccaie 
[the  sheep  of  Dindenaut], — from  Pogge  (the  ring  of  Hans  Carvel], — 
from  Ccelio  Calcagnini  [the  allegory  of  Physics  and  Antiphysics,  the 
Thawed  Words], — from  Ccelius  Rhodiginus,  etc.,  etc. — The  historical 
allusions  in  Rabelais'  romance ; — and  the  satire  of  contemporary 
manners. — Imitation  in  a  general  way  of  the  "  Iliad  "  in  the  earlier, 
and  of  the  "  Odyssey  "  in  the  last  books.  [Cf.  in  Frederic  Bernard's 
edition,  Amsterdam,  1741,  an  amusing  "  Parallel  between  Homer  and 
Rabelais,"  by  Dufresny,  the  author  of  the  Lettres  8iamoises~\. 


THE   FORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  47 

invaded,  devastated,  and  trampled  under  foot  by  the  men 
from  the  North,  whether  Germans  or  Frenchmen,  subtly 
mastered  its  rude  conquerors  as  Greece  had  done  before 
it.  They  conceived  the  idea  of  a  different  life,  freer, 
more  ornate,  more  "  human  "  in  a  word,  than  that  they 
had  led  for  five  or  six  centuries  :  an  obscure  sentiment 
of  the  power  of  beauty  stole  into  the  minds  of  even  the 
"men  at  arms"  or  the  lansquenets;  almost  unawares, 
the  whole  of  Europe  became  Italianised ;  and  then  it 
was  at  last  that  the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance,  recrossing 
the  mountains  with  the  armies  of  Charles  VIII.,  Louis 
XII.,  and  Fran9ois  I.,  seemed  to  have  destroyed  in  less 
than  fifty  years  the  little  that  remained  of  the  traditions 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

In  this  respect  the  Renaissance  is  without  question  the 
work  of  the  Italian  genius.  When  two  or  more  elements 

B.  Tlie  signification  of  the  Romance ; — and  it  not  being  necessary 
that  a  romance  should  have  a  signification  or  a  philosophy, — how  is 
it  that  one  is  sought  for  in  Rabelais'  romance  ? — The  Prologue  to  the 
first  book ; — two  verses  of  Theodore  de  Beze  : 

Qui  sic  nugatur,  tractantem  ut  seria  vincat, 
Seria  quum  faciet,  die,  rogo,  quantus  erit ; 

four  verses  of  Victor  Hugo  : 

Rabelais,  whom  none  understood  ; 

Rocks  Adam  to  sleep, 

And  his  vast  ringing  laugh 

Is  one  of  the  abysses  of  the  mind  ; 

— and  of  the  danger  of  seeing  too  much  mystery  and  too  much  pro- 
fundity in  Rabelais'  romance. 

Of  Rabelais'  romance  as  a  satire  of  manners  ; — and  in  this  connec- 
tion of  the  authenticity  of  the  fifth  book. — Necessity  of  fixing  the 
dates:  Pantagruel,  first  book,  1533;  Gargantua,  1535;  Pantagruel, 
second  book,  1546 ;  Pantagrvel,  third  book,  1552. — Satire  of  scholas- 


48  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

are  brought  into  contact,  to  bring  about  or  to  complete 
the  mystery  of  their  combination,  it  is  not  sufficient 
(this  is  taught  us  by  science  itself)  that  they  should 
have  elective  affinities  for  one  another,  but  the  inter- 
vention is  necessary  of  a  new  force  from  without.  It 
was  much  in  this  way  that  the  Italian  genius  con- 
summated the  work  of  the  Renaissance ;  it  served  as 
the  spark.  Moreover,  if  the  Italian  element  were  to  be 
overlooked,  not  only  would  the  true  character  of  the 
Renaissance  movement  be  misunderstood,  but  it  would 
be  difficult  as  well  to  explain  the  formation  of  classicism 
and  the  reasons  of  its  long  domination. 

The  primary  characteristic  of  this  new  spirit  is  the 
development  of  Individualism.  To  be  "  themselves"  is 
now  going  to  be  the  chief  concern  of  men ;  to  be  them- 
selves to  the  utmost  possible  extent ;  and  in  consequence 

ticism, — of  monks  in  general, — of  the  Romish  Court — of  kings  and  the 
great — of  the  magistracy  and  of  justice. 

Of  Rabelais'  romance  as  the  expression  of  the  ideal  of  the  Renais- 
sance : — Rabelais'  pedagogy  ; — Pantagruelism ; — the  philosophy  of 
nature. 

Of  Rabelais'  romance  as  a  programme  of  reforms  ; — and  that  in 
this  respect  with  regard  to  a  number  of  points  it  should  not  have 
been  displeasing  to  Fra^ois  I.  any  more  than  to  Henri  II. — Circum- 
stances under  which  the  third  book  was  published. — Rabelais'  moral 
and  political  ideas ; — how  far  his  book  reflects  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
doctor  and  a  physiologist ; — and  that  he  had  been  a  monk. 

Of  some  of  the  shortcomings  of  Rabelais'  romance. — His  contempt 
for  women,  and  that  in  this  respect  Rabelais  is  a  thorough  Gaul. — 
What  is  meant  when  it  is  said  that  he  did  not  possess  the  sentiment 
of  beauty  [Cf.  Gebhart :  Rabelais  et  la  Renaissance]. — He  also  lacked 
the  sense  of  the  tragic  side  of  life. — That  for  all  these  reasons,  the 
"filth  with  which  he  strewed  his  writings,"  as  La  Bruyere  said,  does 
not  mark  any  depth  of  intention. — Comparison  in  this  connection  of 
Pantagruel  with  Gulliver's  Travels. — Of  Rabelais'  obscurity  ;  and 
that  where  he  is  obscure  it  is  perhaps  a  question  whether  he  always 
understood  himself. 


THE   FORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  49 

to  be  themselves  "at  all  costs."  Whereas  up  till  now, 
men  were  humiliated,  as  they  might  be  by  a  blemish 
or  deformity,  on  discovering  that  they  differed  sensibly 
from  others  of  their  race  or  class,  henceforth,  on  the 
contrary,  if  they  think  they  detect  in  themselves  an 
original  or  distinctive  quality  they  will  regard  it  as 
something  of  which  to  be  proud.  Est  sane  cuique 
natural-tier,  ut  in  vultu  et  in  gestu  sic  in  voce  et  sermone 
quiddam  swum  ac  proprium,  quod  colere  et  castigare 
quam  mutare  quum  facilius,  turn  melius  atque  felicius 
sit.  Such  were  already  the  terms  in  which  Petrarch 
expressed  himself  in  a  letter  to  Boccaccio ;  and  in  fact 
men  will  make  it  a  point  of  honour  for  the  future  to 
develop  in  themselves  this  quiddam  suum  ac  proprium, 
that  is,  to  differ  from  other  men  with  a  view  to  sur- 
passing them.  Nothing  could  be  in  closer  conformity 

C.  The  literary  value  of  the  Romance. — Luxuriance,  richness,  and 
complexity  of  Eabelais'  imagination ; — and  that  possessing  in  the 
highest  degree  the  gift  of  seeing,  that  of  depicting,  and  that  of  narra- 
tion,— he  even  had  the  gift  of  inventing  veritable  myths. — Allegory, 
Myth,  and  Symbol. — Kabelais'  humour. — The  gift  of  provoking 
laughter. — Rabelais'  style,  and  that  two  periods  should  be  distin- 
guished in  his  style ;  -of  which  the  first  is  the  better. — Of  some 
artifices  of  Eabelais. — The  gift  of  verbal  invention ; — how  Eabelais 
let  himself  be  carried  away  by  it ; — and  while  abandoning  himself  to 
it,  rises  at  times  to  lyricism. — That  Eabelais  does  not  seem  to  have 
founded  a  school,  and  why  not  ? 

4.  THE  REAL  EABELAIS. — That  far  from  having  been  in  any  way  the 
buffoon  or  the  revolutionary  of  legend,  Eabelais  was  the  shrewdest 
and  most  prudent  of  men. — His  relations  with  the  du  Bellays,  the 
cardinal  of  Chatillon,  Fra^ois  I.,  and  Henri  II. ; — his  squabbles  with 
Calvin  and  with  Etienne  Dolet  [Cf.  Eichard  Copley  Christie :  Etienne 
Dolet,  le  martyr  de  la  Renaissance,  trans.  Stryienski,  Paris,  1886]  ; — 
which  nearly  got  him  into  trouble. — Eabelais  and  the  Eomish  Court. 
— His  appointment  as  cure  of  Meudon,  in  1550. — Personal  interven- 
tion of  Henri  II.  in  the  publication  of  the  fourth  book,  in  1552. — A 
passage  in  Theodore  de  Beze :  Pantagruel,  cum  libro  suo  quern  fecit 

5 


50  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FEENCH  LITERATURE 

with  the  spirit  of  antiquity,  or  more  opposed,  it  may 
be,  to  that  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Not  only  will  men  be 
desirous  to  "surpass"  their  fellows,  but  what  is  more, 
they  will  wish  them  to  admit  their  inferiority.  It  is  this 
sentiment  that  Dante  somewhere  describes  as  lo  grand 
disio  d'eccellenza,  the  keen  desire  to  excel,  and  Boccaccio 
as  the  ambition  to  outlive  oneself :  perpetuandi  nominis 
desiderium.  A  mere  "latent"  superiority,  as  it  were, 
will  not  be  sufficient  ;  a  superiority  deriving  its  prin- 
cipal satisfaction  from  a  proud  but  undemonstrative 
self-consciousness.  The  superiority  will  have  to  be 
publicly  acknowledged,  proclaimed  and  recompensed ; 
and  this  will  be  the  case,  as  we  now  know,  not 
metaphorically  but  in  fact.  In  this  way  the  poet,  the 
writer,  and  the  artist  find  themselves  condemned  to  an 
inevitable,  continuous,  and  violent  struggle  for  glory.  In 

imprimere  per  favorem  cardinalium.  .  .  . — He  resigns  his  position 
as  cure  of  Meudon  in  1552. — His  death  in  Paris  in  1553. 

5.  THE  WORKS. — Neglecting  some  Almanacks  and  two  or  three 
brochures,  the  Works  of  Rabelais  are  confined  to  his  romance,  of 
which  it  is  sufficient  to  indicate  the  principal  editions,  which  are : 

(Original  editions)  the  editions  of  1533,  1535, 1542, 1546, 1548,  1552, 
1562  and  1564  ;  and 

(The  complete  works)  the  Elzevir  edition,  1663 ; — le  Duchat's 
edition,  Amsterdam,  1711,  H.  Desbordes ; — le  Duchat  and  le 
Motteux'  edition,  Amsterdam,  1741  ;  J.  F.  Bernard ; — D.  L.  (de 
1'Aulnaye's)  edition,  Paris,  1820,  Desoer; — and  the  more  recent 
editions  of  Rathery,  Paris,  1857.  F.  Didot ; — Jannet,  Paris,  1874, 
Picard ; — and  Marty-Laveaux,  Paris,  1868-1881,  Lemerre. 

IV.— The  Amadis. 

It  is  impossible  to  make  no  allusion  to  a  book  of  the  author  of 
which  its  contemporaries  said  "  that  he  was  the  gentleman  of  his 
time  who  had  the  greatest  reputation  for  speaking  French  well  and 
as  an  orator  "  [La  Croix  du  Maine,  in  his  Bibliotlieque,  article  NICOLAS 
DE  HERBEKAY,  SIEUR  DBS  ESSARS]  ; — and  of  the  book  itself  "  that  there 
could  be  gathered  in  it  all  the  beautiful  flowers  of  our  language  "  [Et. 


THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  51 

every  manner  and  by  every  expedient  they  are  going  to 
apply  themselves  to  surpass  their  fellows,  and  by  every 
expedient  and  in  every  manner  they  will  endeavour  to 
throw  discredit  upon  those  who  rival  them  in  popularity. 
[Cf.  J.  Burckhardt,  La  Civilisation  de  la  Renaissance  en 
Italic.] 

Who  has  not  heard  of  the  famous  quarrels  of  the 
Italian  humanists,  of  their  overflowing  vanity,  of  the 
insults  they  bandied,  and  whose  coarseness  is  generally 
equalled  only  by  the  insignificance  of  the  matters  at 
issue?  Vadius  and  Trissotin  will  be  "gentlemen"  in 
comparison  with  Philelphus  and  Poggius.  This  is  a 
natural  consequence  of  the  development  of  individualism. 
There  will  be  other  and  pleasanter  consequences,  fore- 
most among  which  it  is  proper  to  point  out  forthwith 
the  revival  or  the  birth  of  criticism.  Who  is  it  has 

Pasquier,  in  his  Recherches  de  la  France].  See  too  on  the  subject  of 
Amadis  de  Gaule :  La  Noue,  in  his  Discours  politiques  et  militaircs. 
The  Sieur  des  Essars  only  translated  the  first  eight  books  of  the 
Amadis,  which  appeared  from  1540  to  1548 ; — and  the  best  edition  of 
which  is  that  issued  by  Christophe  Plantin,  Amsterdam,  1561. 

V.— The  Lyons  School. 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — La   Croix    du    Maine,   Bibliotheque  francaise, 
articles   LOUISE   LABE,  MAURICE   SCEVE,  PERNETTE  DU   GUILLET  ; — 
Goujet :    Bibliotheque  francaise,   vol.   xi.   and  vol.   xii. ; — Niceron  : 
Hommes  illustres,  vol.  xxiii. ; — Paradin :  Memoires  de  Thistoirc  de 
Lyon ; — Edouard  Bourciez :  Les  moeurs  et  la  societe  polie  a  la  cour 
d'Henri  II.,  Paris,  1886  ; — Charles  Boy  :  Becherches  sur  la  vie  et  les 
oeuvres  de  Louise  Labe,  and  vol.  ii.  of  the  (Euvres  dc  Louise  Lobe. 
Paris,  1887. 

2.  THE  POETS. — A  passage  of  Michelet  on  the  subject  of  the  tem- 
perament of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Lyons  district  [Hist,  de  France, 
vol.  ii.     Cf.  E.  Montegut :  En  Bourbonnais  et  en  Forez]. — Italian 
emigrants  in  Lyons; — the  great   Printers; — a  town  of  passage. — 
Maurice  Sceve  and  his  sisters  or  cousins,  Claudine  and  Sybille ; — 
Pernette  du  Guillet ; — and  Louise  Labe. — Testimony  of  Billion  and 


52  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

said,  what  moralist  or  what  preacher,  La  Bruyere  or 
Bourdaloue,  that  at  the  starting-point  of  all  large  for- 
tunes there  are  commonly  found  ' '  things  that  cause  a 
shudder"?  This  is  precisely  the  case  with  criticism; 
for  it  would  be  vain  for  us  to  attempt  to  hide  that  at 
first  it  was  merely  a  form  of  literary  envy !  In  the 
meantime,  however,  and  thanks  to  this  very  rivalry, 
men's  characters  begin  to  show  themselves,  even  in 
France,  in  their  works. 

Here  we  touch  on  the  reason  that  has  caused  some  his- 
torians of  literature  to  hesitate  as  to  the  place  that  ought 
to  be  assigned  to  Villon,  for  example,  or  to  Commynes. 
Are  they  the  end  or  the  beginning  of  something,  the  last 
of  our  mediaeval  or  the  first  of  our  modern  writers? 
What,  at  any  rate,  is  certain  is  that  they  are  already 
somebody.  Still  more  must  this  be  admitted  of  Master 

of  Pasquier :  "  Continuing  our  story,  and  beginning  with  the  town  of 
Lyons  .  .  .  it  is  notorious  that  it  is  proud  of  having  produced  .  .  . 
the  remarkable  Marguerite  du  Bourg  .  .  .  and  two  very  virtuous 
sisters,  called  Claudine  and  Jane  Sceve  .  .  .  and  Claude  Perronne 
.  .  .  and  Jeanne  Gaillarde  .  .  .  and  Pernette  du  Guillet  "  [Le  Fort 
Inexpugnable  de  Vhonneur  feminin,  Paris,  1555,  Ian  d'Allyer.  Cf. 
Pasquier,  Recherches  dc  la  France,  bk.  vii.]. — The  Delie  of  Maurice 
Sceve,  1544;  and  the  Eimes  of  Pernette  du  Guillet,  1552. — The  Works 
of  Louise  Labe,  1555. 

Characteristics  common  to  these  works  ; — [Cf.  Delie,  decastich  331, 
416,  418,  274,  168,  169  and  273  ;  and  Louise  Labe  :  (Euvres,  elegy  i. 
and  sonnets  8,  9,  14  and  24.] — The  learned  allusions  and  the  inten- 
tional obscurity ; — and  in  this  connection  of  the  symbolism  of  the 
Lyons  school ; — intensity  of  feeling ; — the  conception  of  love  as  some- 
thing painful  and  tragic. — Mysticism  and  sensuality. — Growing  Italian 
influence  ; — new  concern  for  form ;— new  conception  of  poetry. 

Of  the  connection  between  the  Lyons  school  and  the  Pleiad. — Tes- 
timony of  Estienne  Pasquier :  "  The  first,  he  says,  to  innovate  was 
Maurice  Sceve  of  Lyons";  and  of  du  Bellay  [L' Olive,  sonnet  59]. 
— They  applaud  him  for 

having  wandered 
Far  from  the  path  traced  by  ignorance, 


THE    FOKMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  53 

Clement  Marot,  of  whose  poetry  it  may  be  said  with 
truth  that  it  is  full  of  himself  and  of  himself  alone ; 
indeed  the  title  of  his  first  work,  V Adolescence  Clementine, 
makes  this  clear  enough  to  us.  In  this  volume  he  tells 
his  own  story ;  he  lays  himself  bare ;  he  exhibits  himself 
to  our  curiosity.  Similarly,  in  the  Heptameron, — than 
which,  by  the  way,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  less  enter- 
taining reading, — it  is  her  own  personal  experience  of 
life  and  men,  it  is  even  occasionally  her  own  adventures, 
that  Marguerite  puts  into  her  anecdotes.  Need  I  men- 
tion here  the  name  of  Etienne  Dolet,  who  has  sometimes 
been  called  "the  martyr  of  the  Eenaissance,"  though  in 
truth  he  was  only  the  victim  of  the  overbearing  violence 
of  his  character  and  of  the  excessive  development  of  his 
personality?  It  would  be  easy  to  join  a  dozen  other 
names  to  those  given.  And  it  is  because  it  was  the  first 

— and  also  for  having  broken  with  court,  circumstantial  and  occa- 
sional poetry. — It  is  in  imitation  of  Sceve  that  the  Pleiad  will  com- 
pose its  Erreurs  Amoureuses,  its  Olive,  its  Sonnets  a  Cassandre,  its 
Amours  de  Francine. — Maurice  Sceve  and  Pontus  de  Tyard. — Per- 
sonal relations  of  Louise  Labe  with  Pontus  and  with  Olivier  de  Magny. 
— Comment  on  saying  of  Cicero :  Nihil  est  simul  et  inventum  et  per- 
fectum. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  works  of  Maurice  Sceve  are  composed,  omit- 
ting sundry  short  works,  of  Delie,  objet  de  plus  haute  vertu,  Lyons, 
1544 ; — and  of  the  Microcosme,  a  descriptive  poem  in  three  songs, 
Lyons,  1560. 

The  works  of  Louise  Labe  include  : — (1)  a  prose  dialogue,  le  Debat 
de  Folie  et  d?  Amour; — (2)  three  Elegies  ; — and  (3)  twenty-four  Son- 
nets, one  of  which  is  in  Italian.  They  appeared  for  the  first  tune  in 
1555. 

There  are  Italian  verses  too  in  the  Eijmes  de  Pernette  du  Guillet. 

Sceve's  Delie  and  Pernette  du  Guillet's  Byrnes,  which  had  become 
extremely  rare,  have  been  reprinted  at  Lyons  by  Scheuring,  1862  and 
1864. 

The  last  edition  of  the  works  of  Louise  Labe  is  M.  Charles  Boy's, 
Paris,  1887,  A.  Lemerre. 


54     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

time  that  the  writer  appeared  distinctly  in  his  work  that 
there  has  been  talk,  and  that  it  is  still  the  custom 
to  talk  emphatically  of  the  richness,  abundance,  and 
originality  of  the  French  literature  of  the  time  of  the 
Renaissance.  The  fact  is,  however,  that  it  is  somewhat 
poor  in  works,  yet  poorer  in  ideas,  and  not  less  poor  in 
men ;  and  for  very  many  years  its  chief  originality  will 
consist  in  the  freedom,  quite  novel  at  the  period,  with 
which  each  writer  will  show  himself  as  he  is. 

It  is  true  that  owing  to  the  exercise  of  this  very  free- 
dom, to  this  basis  of  individualism,  another  idea  takes 
shape,  which  may  be  termed  the  central  idea  of  the 
Renaissance,  an  idea  of  which  foreigners  themselves 
admit  that  Fran£ois  Rabelais  was  the  living  incarnation ; 
we  allude  to  the  idea  of  the  goodness  or  of  the  divinity  of 
Nature.  Its  connection  with  the  preceding  idea  is  easily 

SECOND  PERIOD 

The  Teachings  of  Antiquity 
1550-1585 

I.  THE  RENAISSANCE  OF  POETRY 
I. — The  Formation  of  the  Pleiad. 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — Claude  Binet :    La   Vie  de  Pierre  Ronsard. — 
Estienne  Pasquier :  Recherche*  de  la  France,  book  vii. — Bayle,  in  his 
Dictionnaire,  articles  DAURAT  and  RONSARD. — Moreri :  Dictionnaire, 
edition  of  1750,  article  DORAT. — Goujet :  Bibliotheque  francaise,  vols. 
xii.  and  xiii. ;    and  Histoire  du  College  de  France,  vol.  i. — Sainte- 
Beuve  :  Tableau  de  la  poesie  francaise  au  XVI'  siecle,  1828;  and 
Joachim  du  Bellay,  in  the  Nouveaux  Lundis,  vol.  xiii. — -A.  Jeandel, 
Pontus  de  Tyard,  Paris,  1860. — Plotz,  Joachim  du  Bellay  et  son  role 
dans    la   reforme   de  Ronsard,  Berlin,  1874. — Marty-Laveaux  :   his 
Notices  in  the  collection  of  the  PUiade  francaise,  Paris,  1867-1896. 

2.  THE    POETIC    SYSTEM   OF    THE    PLEIAD. — The  first  meeting   of 
Ronsard  and  du  Bellay ; — Lazare  de  Baiif's  house  ; — the  college  of 
Coqueret. — Formation  of  the  Pleiad. — Origin  of  the  name ;  the  astro- 


THE    FORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  55 

seen.  We  can  only  develop  in  ourselves  what  nature  has 
put  in  us,  and  nature  had  its  reasons  for  what  it  put  in 
us.  The  consequence  is  that  in  reality  we  are  following 
nature  when  we  develop  our  originality,  just  as  inversely, 
or  reciprocally,  to  obey  nature  is  to  assure  the  develop- 
ment of  our  personality ;  and  such  is  precisely  the 
"  philosophy  "  of  Rabelais'  romance,  or,  if  one  decline 
to  allow  that  his  vast,  uproarious  laugh  covers  so  much 
depth  and  mystery,  such  is  at  least  the  signification  of 
his  Pantagruel.  He  preaches  the  easy  morality  of  the 
Abbey  of  Thelema,  and  "  in  his  rule  of  conduct  there 
is  but  this  clause  :  Do  what  you  will."  However,  on 
examination,  this  morality  is  found  to  go  further  than 
would  be  thought  at  first ;  it  has  a  wider  bearing  if  it 
be  not  of  greater  depth ;  and  at  bottom  the  rule  of  the 
Thelemites  is  seen  to  be  the  contradiction,  or  even  the 


nomical  Pleiad ;  the  mythological  Pleiad ;  the  Alexandrian  Pleiad ; 
the  French  Pleiad ; — and  to  keep  in  view  that  in  French  as  in 
Greek  a  "  Pleiad  "  must  contain  more  than  six  and  less  than  eight 
names. — Romanticism  generally  in  error  as  to  the  objects  and  work 
of  the  Pleiad. — Publication  of  the  Defense  et  Illustration  de  la  langue 
francaise,  1550. 

A  few  words  on  the  Arts  Poetiques  of  Pierre  Fabri,  1521 ;  [L'Art  de 
Pleine  Rhetorique]  of  Gracien  du  Pont,  1539  ;  and  of  Thomas  Sibilet, 
1548. — That  to  understand  the  Defense  it  must  be  connected  with  the 
intention  of  reacting  against  the  school  of  Marot ; — and  that  it  is 
then  seen  that  what  its  authors  desired  was  :  (1)  The  Renewal  of  the 
subjects  of  inspiration  ; — the  fact  being  that  for  two  hundred  years, 
and  even  with  Marot,  poetry  had  been  merely  "  rhymed  chronicle  "  ; 
— while  what  was  now  to  be  undertaken  was  to  sing  the  past,  nature, 
fame,  and  love. — But  to  succeed  in  this,  it  was  above  all  necessary  to 
get  rid  of  the  restrictions  imposed  upon  the  liberty  of  the  poet  by  the 
tyranny  of  fixed  literary  forms ;  and  therefore  : — (2)  tlie  Renewal  of 
literary  forms ; — which  will  be  those  of  antiquity :  epic  poem,  ode, 
satire,  comedy,  tragedy,  etc. — The  sonnet,  however,  is  spared  in 
honour  of  Petrarch. — And  finally  to  make  these  forms  the  vehicle 
of  matter  worthy  of  their  beauty,  it  is  needful :  (3)  To  Reform  the 


Ob  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

negation  of  all  that  manners,  the  school,  and  the  Church 
had  then  been  teaching  for  over  a  thousand  years. 

We  have  proof  of  this  in  Rabelais'  commentary  on  or 
rather  justification  of  his  Laissez  faire,  in  which  he  sets 
forth  that  "  free  men,  of  good  birth,  well  educated,  keep- 
ing honourable  company,  have  by  nature  an  instinct  and 
incentive  which  always  inclines  them  to  virtuous  deeds, 
and  restrains  them  from  vice."  This  amounts  to  saying 
that  Nature  itself  inculcates  virtue,  and  it  is  in  this 
connection  that  Pantagruel  may  rightly  be  called  "  the 
Bible  "  of  the  Renaissance.  It  is  saturated  with  Natu- 
ralism, for  throughout  it  gives  expression  to  the  con- 
viction that  all  the  ills  of  humanity  solely  result  from 
not  following  nature  closely  enough  and  faithfully 
enough.  But  we  need  only  recall  the  memorable 
allegory  of  Physics  and  Antiphysics.  "  Physics,  that 

Language : — by  making  a  work  of  art  of  it. — Linguistic  theories  of 
the  Defense. — How  widely  they  differ  from  those  of  the  "  Greekifiers  " 
and  "  Latinisers  "  at  whom  Rabelais  scoffed  in  Pantagruel. — Insig- 
nificance of  the  metrical  innovations  of  the  Pleiad. — The  innovations 
in  rhythm  will  be  the  personal  work  of  the  genius  of  Ronsard. 

Stir  aroused  by  the  Defense  et  Illustration  ; — Rejoinder  of  Quintil 
Horatian. — Hostility  of  Mellin  de  Saint-Gelais. — Counter-rejoinder  of 
du  Bellay : — Publication  of  the  Olive  and  of  the  Odes,  1550 ; — The 
protectors  of  Ronsard  and  du  Bellay  : — Triumph  of  the  Pleiad. — It  is 
backed  by  the  Hellenists,  the  poets  and  by  the  king,  when  Charles  IX. 
mounts  the  throne. — It  had  already  had  the  support  of  Mary  Stuart 
and  of  Catherine  of  Medicis. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — La  Defense  et  Illustration  de  la  Langue  fran- 
caise ; — Du  Bellay,  le  Poete  Courtisan  ; — Pontus  de  Tyard,  Solitaire 
premier,  Solitaire  second ; — Ronsard,  Abrege  de  VArt  poetique, 
dedicated  to  M.  A.  d'Elbene,  1565  ; — Preface  de  la  Franciade,  1572. 

II.— Joachim  du  Bellay  [Lire,  1525  ;  f  1560,  Paris]. 

1. — THE  SOURCES. — Marty-Laveaux,  (Euvres  de  du  Bellay,  in 
the  collection  of  the  Pleiade  francaise ; — Sainte-Beuve,  loc.  cit. ; — 
J.  H.  de  Heredia  and  F.  Brunetiere :  Speeches  pronounced  at  the 
inauguration  of  the  statue  of  J.  du  Bellay  at  Ancenis,  1894. 


THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  57 

is  Nature,  will  bear  as  her  first  issue  Beauty  and 
Harmony.  .  .  .  Antiphysics,  who  is  ever  opposed  to 
Nature,  was  straightway  envious  of  this  so  brave  and 
honourable  child-birth,  and  contrariwise  bore  Amodunt 
and  Discordance.  .  .  .  And  afterwards  she  will  bear  the 
Matagots,  Cagots,  and  Papelards  .  .  .  and  other  un- 
couth and  misshapen  monsters  in  despite  of  Nature." 
[Pantagruel,  book  iii.,  ch.  32.]  In  fact  it  is  in  the 
name  of  Physics  that  Rabelais  attacks  what  still  subsists 
of  the  institutions  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It  is  in  the  name 
of  Physics  that  he  draws  up  the  scheme  for  the  encyclo- 
pedic education  of  his  Gargantua.  It  is  in  the  name  of 
Physics  that  he  demands  the  reform  or  suppression  of 
whatever  interferes  with  the  liberty  of  his  development. 
He  does  not  state  his  aims  expressly,  since  he  is  not  the 
prophet  or  the  apostle  he  has  been  represented  to  be,  any 

2.  THE  POET. — A  younger  son  of  a  great  family  in  the  sixteenth 
century. — The    youth    of    du    Bellay ; — his    severe    illness   and  his 
studies  ; — his  friendship  with  Ronsard. — He  enters  the  service  of  his 
relative  the  Cardinal. — His  stay  at  Rome. — Liaison  with  "  Faustine  "  ; 
— Vexations  and    disgust. — Return   to    France. — Publication   of    his 
Regrets. — He  falls  out  with  the  Cardinal. 

The  first  verses  of  du  Bellay  ; — U Olive  and  the  Eecueil  a  Mme 
Marguerite ; — and  that  du  Bellay  in  these  works,  in  spite  of  the  very 
beautiful  verses  they  contain,  falls  far  short  of  his  earliest  ambitions. 
— He  perceives  this  himself ;  and  this  is  perhaps  the  origin  of  his 
melancholy. — His  piece  against  the  Petrarchists. — The  very  vexations 
of  his  existence  with  Cardinal  du  Bellay  supply  him  with  the  subject 
matter  of  his  masterpiece. — Originality  of  his  Regrets. — The  Anti- 
quites  de  Rome  and  the  poetry  of  ruins. 

That  du  Bellay  was  the  creator  in  France  of  "  introspective  poetry  " 
and  of  the  satire ; — Comparison  between  his  elegies  and  those  of 
Marot. — He  possesses  grace,  delicacy,  and  melancholy. — Also  light 
irony. — Why  it  is  that  the  ardour  which  marks  his  Latin  poetry  does 
not  appear  in  his  French  verses  [Cf.  E.  Faquet,  XV f"  Siecle], 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  Works  of  J.  du  Bellay  are  composed  of : — 

1.  A  collection  of  amorous  sonnets,  I'Olive,  followed  in  the  first 


58     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

more  than  he  is  a  buffoon  or  a  drunken  Silenus,  and  since 
in  reality  he  has  only  one  trait  in  common  with  his 
Panurge,  which  is  that  he  has  a  natural  dread  of 
blows  !  But  he  does  better  than  express  himself  clearly 
when  he  insinuates  his  views  with  an  air,  as  it  were,  of 
their  not  being  in  his  thoughts,  when  he  urges  them 
with  involuntary  ardour  and  almost  unconscious  enthu- 
siasm rather  than  in  a  systematic  spirit.  Nothing  in 
nature  is  repugnant  to  him  ;  he  loves  all  its  manifesta- 
tions, not  excepting  the  grossest  and  the  most  humili- 
ating, which  seem  merely  to  awaken  in  him  the  idea 
of  their  cause.  Are  they  not  what  they  ought  to  be? 
and  can  we  do  better  than  conform  ourselves  to  them? 
Zriv  fj/moXoyov/jiivtttg  T*J  ^verst,  the  Stoics  used  to  say  in  a 
formula  that  summed  up  the  loftiest  teaching  of  Pagan 
wisdom.  Kabelais  repeats  it  after  them ;  he  repeats  it 

edition  by  the  Recueil  a  Mme  Marguerite ; — (2)  of  another  collection 
of  sonnets,  les  Regrets ; — (3)  of  a  third  collection,  les  Antiquites  de 
Borne,  together  with  les  Jeux  Rustiques ;  and  finally  (4)  of  a  trans- 
lation in  verse  of  books  iv.  and  vi.  of  the  jEneid. 

The  principal  old  editions  are  those  of  Paris,  1561,  Langelier; — 
Paris,  1569,  Frederic  Morel;— and  Kouen,  1597,  F.  Maillard.  The 
best  edition  is  that  already  cited  of  M.  Marty-Laveaux,  in  the 
Pleiade  francaise,  1866-1867,  A.  Lemerre. 

III. — Pierre  de  Ronsard  [La  Poissonniere,  1524;  f  1585,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — To  the  works  already  cited  should  be  added : — 
Gandar,  Ronsard  imitateur  d'Homere  et  de  Pindare,  Metz,  1854 ; 
A.    de    Bochambeau,   La  Famille    de    Ronsard,   Paris,    1869; — G. 
Chalandon,   Essai    sur    Ronsard,    Paris,    1875 ; — E.    Faquet,   XVIe 
Siecle,   Paris,    1894 ; — Mellerio,  Lexique   de   la  langue  de  Ronsard, 
Paris,  1895  ; — -and  Pieri,  Petrarque  et  Ronsard,  Marseilles,  1895. 

2.  THE  POET. 

A.  Les  Amours. — Of  the  sincerity  of  Ronsard's  love  poems; — and 
in  this  connection  of  the  amorous  poetry  of  the  sixteenth  century. — 
It  partakes  rather  of  the  artificial  character  of  the  "courteous  poetry" 
of  our  old  literature  than  of  the  passionate  character  of  modern 


THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  59 

after  the  Italians ;  and  by  this  I  do  not  wish  to  say 
that  he  himself  learnt  it  either  from  the  Italians  or  the 
Stoics.  I  might  make  the  assertion,  since  the  alle- 
gory of  Physics  and  Antiphysics  is  not  his  own,  while 
assuredly  he  was  as  well  acquainted  with  the  ancients 
as  anybody  of  his  time.  What  seems  to  me,  however, 
much  more  significant  is  that,  in  respect  to  this  adoration 
of  the  energies  of  nature,  he  is  merely  the  inspired  in- 
terpreter of  the  current  ideas  of  his  time ;  and  on  this 
account  his  Pantagruel  really  possesses  a  significance  that 
may  be  called,  that  must  indeed  be  called  "European." 
In  a  world  that  is  still  Christian,  Pagan  culture  has  made 
of  him,  as  of  the  Italians  of  the  Renaissance,  a  pure 
Pagan ;  and  while  others  before  him  or  among  his  con- 
temporaries have  been  this,  none  has  been  it  in  a  larger 
sense,  with  more  verve, — and  even  with  more  lyricism. 

lyric  poetry. — Still,  while  this  remark  is  just  when  applied  to  the 
Sonnets  a  Cassandre,  it  is  already  less  so  applied  to  the  Sonnets  a 
Marie ; — and  Marie  seems  really  to  have  existed. — The  language  of 
Bonsard's  sonnets ;  and  that  it  constitutes,  perhaps,  their  principal 
merit. — The  merit  is  all  the  greater  seeing  that  Ronsard  often  gives 
expression  to  very  subtle  sentiments  in  his  sonnets. — Another  quality 
of  his  sonnets  is  that  they  leave  the  impression  of  being  the  outcome 
of  a  single  effort. — We  know,  however,  that  Ronsard  corrected  and 
rewrote  them  to  a  prodigious  extent. — Were  the  corrections  always 
happy  ? — However  this  may  be,  none  of  his  lines  leave  the  impression 
that  they  were  "patched."  [Cf.  Sonnets  1,  20,  46,  62.  66,  94,  114, 
133,  206  of  the  edition  of  1584]  ;  —  Voluptuousness  in  Ronsard's 
Sonnets ;— how  its  ardour  is  always  tempered  by  melancholy ; — and 
in  this  connection  of  Ronsard's  Paganism  and  Epicureanism. 

B.  The  Odes,  the  Hymns  and  the  Poems. — That  it  was  Ronsard's 
Odei  and  Hymns  that  established  his  reputation  during  his  lifetime. — 
Were  his  contemporaries  mistaken  in  their  admiration  of  them  ? — 
And  what  did  they  admire  in  them  ? — (1)  Their  diversity  of  note  : — 
if  some  of  them  are  "  Pindaric,"  others  are  "  Horatian ;  some  of 
them  are  "  Bacchic,"  some  of  them  "  heroic,"  some  of  them  "  Gallic  " 
and  some  of  them  "eligiac." — They  also  rightly  admired  in  them: 


60  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

But  there  is  more  of  note  in  this  famous  romance. 
For  instance,  beneath  the  humanist  and  the  scholar  there 
is  little  difficulty  in  detecting  the  Gaul,  a  Gaul  by  race 
and  temperament,  the  continuator  or  the  heir  of  Villon,  of 
the  Eoman  de  la  Rose,  of  the  authors  of  our  old  Fabliaux. 
There  is  no  example  of  an  author  breaking  singly  and 
at  one  stroke  with  a  tradition  several  centuries  old ! 
And  there  is  something  of  the  monk,  or  more  precisely  of 
the  friar,  in  the  indelicacy  of  Rabelais'  jesting,  in  the 
grossness  of  his  language,  in  the  license  of  his  manners. 
It  may  be,  too,  that  there  is  something  of  the  doctor 
about  him.  Still,  however  diverse  are  the  traits  that  give 
him  so  complex  a  character — and  this  very  complexity  is 
signally  expressive  of  the  confusion  of  ideas  of  the  period 
— there  is  one  of  these  traits,  the  one  precisely  we  are 
trying  to  make  clear,  that  stands  out  from,  summarises 

(2)  The  variety  of  rhythm ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  Bonsard  as 
an  inventor  of   rhythms  ; — he   created  almost  all  those  which  our 
poets  have  used  since,  and  he  created  some  that  are  still  unutilised. — 

(3)  The  flow  of  inspiration  ;  comparison  of  the  Ode  au  cliancelier  de 
VHopital  with  the  Mages  of  Victor  Hugo ; — how  a  descriptive  or 
"  objective  "  element  introduces  itself ; — and  causes  their  lyricism  to 
evolve  imperceptibly  towards  the  epopee. 

The  epical  inspiration  of  Bonsard's  Hymns ; — and  that  by  dint  of 
living  in  the  company  of  the  ancients  he  himself  became  one  of  them  ; 
—  [Cf.  Calays  et  Zetlies  or  Castor  et  Pollux]  ; — He  is  as  much  at 
home  in  mythology  as  if  it  were  his  natural  element ; — and  it  lends 
him  the  power  of  creating  myths  in  his  turn ; —  [Cf.  the  Hymne  de 
VOr  or  the  Hymne  de  VE  quite  des  vieux  Gaulois]; — -But  in  these 
productions  the  purity  of  his  outline  is  not  always  on  a  level  with  the 
vigour  of  his  colouring. — Growing  importance  of  description  in  the 
Hymns  ; — and  of  rhetoric  ; —  [Cf .  the  Hymne  de  la  Mort  or  the  Temple 
de  Messeigneurs  le  Connetable  et  des  Cliatillons] . — From  the  epic 
form  the  poet  evolves  towards  oratorical  prose. 

He  does  not  quite  reach  this  point  in  the  Poems ; — the  reason  being 
that  he  has  first  to  traverse  a  period  of  alexandrinism, —  [Cf.  la 
Fourmi,  VAlouette,  le  Houx,  le  Frelon,  la  Grenouille] . — Definition 


THE   FOEMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  61 

and  dominates  all  the  others.  Rabelais  was  the  first, 
perhaps  the  greatest,  and  also  the  most  sincere  of  those 
of  his  race  who  believed  in  the  goodness  of  Nature ;  who 
held  that  the  great  enemy  of  man  went  by  the  names 
of  usage,  custom,  rule,  authority  and  restraint ;  that  in 
consequence  this  was  the  enemy  who  ought  to  be  attacked 
by  every  method,  by  raillery,  violence  and  insult ;  and 
finally  that  the  supreme  achievement  of  education  was 
the  liberation  of  the  instincts. 

But  while  he  was  making  in  this  way  open  and  cynical 
profession  of  his  religion  of  nature,  another  sentiment, 
which  he  lacked,  had  sprung  up  and  was  in  course  of 
development  in  some  of  his  contemporaries  :  this  sen- 
timent was  that  Sentiment  of  Art,  in  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  Middle  Ages  were  so  grievously  deficient  and 
whose  reappearance  in  the  world  is  so  characteristic  of 

of  alexandrinism ; — its  three  characteristic  traits  : — (1)  Indifference 
to  the  subject  matter,  whence  results : — (2)  The  preference  given  to 
petty  subjects  ;  whence  results  in  turn  :— (3)  A  disproportion  between 
the  development  and  the  interest  and  between  the  words  and  the 
matter. — One  cannot  help  noting  these  characteristics  in  Bonsard's 
Poemes. — In  consequence  they  would  rightly  be  the  most  forgotten 
portion  of  his  work,  if  they  did  not  contain  information  of  value  for 
the  story  of  his  life ; —  [Cf .  the  Elegy 

Since  God  has  not  fitted  me  to  bear  arms]  ; 

and  for  the  literary  history  of  his  time  ; — Cf .  Le  Voyage  d'Arcueil  or 
Les  lies  Fortunees~\  ; — and  finally  if  he  had  not  written  the  Franciade. 
C.  His  other  Works. — That  it  is  not  to  be  concluded  that  the 
Franciade  is  contemptible. — But  Bonsard's  heart  was  not  in  his  work 
in  this  case. — Of  the  conditions  of  the  epopee  ; — and  that  the  subject 
of  the  Franciade  realised  none  of  them. — But  the  prose  writer  and 
the  orator  develop  in  Bonsard  in  proportion  as  his  poetical  inspiration 
declines  ; —  [Cf .  the  Discours  des  Misercs  de  ce  temps]  ; — and  in  this 
connection  of  Bonsard's  Catholicism ; — and  of  the  relationship  between 
the  lyric  form  and  the  oratorical  form. — Of  Bonsard's  Discours  as 
evidence  of  this  relationship. — The  patriotic  inspiration  of  the  Dis- 


62  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance.  Who  is  unacquainted 
with  the  expression  given  to  it  by  Raphael  in  a  cele- 
brated letter  to  Baldassare  Castiglione :  Essendo  carestia 
di  belle  donne,  io  mi  servo  di  certa  idea  che  mi  vieni  nella 
mente  ?  I  am  reminded  too  of  a  sentence  of  Cicero : 
Nihil  in  simplici  genere  ex  omni  parte  perfectum  natura 
expolivit.  The  meaning  of  both  writers  is  that  our 
imagination  never  finds  entire  satisfaction  in  nature ; 
that  nothing  natural,  in  any  form,  comes  up  to  the  idea 
we  conceive  of  its  perfection ;  and  that  thus  we  are 
always  able  to  add  to  it  a  something  that  is  our  own. 
It  is  this  doctrine,  which  inspired  the  great  works  of 
antiquity,  that  was  spread  abroad  by  the  Italians  of 
the  Renaissance  after  they  had  elaborated  it  by  thought- 
ful study  of  their  models,  and  had  endeavoured  to  realise 
it  in  their  turn ;  and,  as  might  be  proved,  it  has  modified 

cours, — It  was  Konsard's  Discours  that  endowed  our  literature  with 
the  satire,  though  du  Bellay  may  have  had  an  inkling  of  this  form  of 
composition. — Eonsard's  last  love  affair  and  the  Sonnets  pour  Helene. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — As  we  have  enumerated  Eonsard's  principal 
works,  it  will  suffice  here  to  indicate  the  principal  editions  of  them, 
which  are  : 

G.  Buon's  edition,  Paris,  4  vols.  in  16mo,  1560 ; — the  edition  of  1567, 
Paris,  5  vols.  in  8vo  ; — the  edition  of  1584,  1  vol.  in  folio,  the  last  re- 
vised and  corrected  by  Eonsard ; — the  edition  of  1623,  2  vols.  in  folio ; 

And  among  the  modern  editions  : — Blanchemain's  edition  8  vols.  in 
18mo,  Paris,  1857-1867,  Frank  ; — and  Marty-Laveaux'  edition,  5  vols. 
in  8vo,  in  the  collection  of  the  Pleiade  francaise. 

IV.— Jean-Antoine  de  Baif  [Venice,  1532  ;  t  1589,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Cf.  above  ; — and  add  Marty-Laveaux'  Notice; — 
and  V Academic  des  derniers  Valois,  by  Ed.  Fremy,  Paris,  s.d. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  POET. — It  being  useless  to  study  the  poets  of  the 
Pleiad  one  after  the  other,  for  what  reasons  Baif  is  given  the  preference 
over  Jodelle   or  Eemy  Belleau. — Eonsard's   caricature. — A   natural 
son  ; — his  youth   and  education  ; — mediocrity  of  his   work.  —  That 
where  he  is  at  his  best,  in  his  Ravissement  d1  Europe  or  his  Hymne 


THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  63 

not  merely  the  conception  of  art  and  literature,  but 
the  conception  of  life  itself.  "  The  language  of  the 
Italians  of  the  Renaissance, — it  has  been  possible  to 
say  with  truth, — their  ideal  of  society,  their  moral 
ideal,  their  entire  being  is  conditioned  and  determined 
by  the  ideal  they  formed  of  art."  [John  Addington 
Symonds,  Renaissance  in  Italy ;  the  Fine  Arts,  ch.  i.J 
In  other  words,  the  Renaissance,  having  rediscovered 
nature  and  freed  the  individual,  perceived  that  it  was 
impossible  to  trust  the  development  of  either  entirely 
to  chance,  and  it  subordinated  the  imitation  of  nature 
and  the  development  of  the  individual  to  the  realisation 
of  beauty. 

The  first  of  our  French  writers  to  experience,  a  little 
confusedly  but  profoundly,  this  new  sentiment  was  a 
poet  of  Lyons,  Maurice  Sceve,  in  his  Delie,  objet  de  plus 

a  Venus,  Baif  holds  the  same  position  with  respect  to  Ronsard  as 
do  Primatice  or  Rosso  to  their  masters. — Extensiveness  of  his  work  ; 
— and  that  it  is  eminently  representative  of  the  artificial  bide  of  the 
Pleiad  movement. — His  orthographical  reforms ; — his  metrical  inno- 
vations ; — his  attempts  to  combine  music  and  poetry ; — his  Academy. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Baif's  works  are  composed  of : — (1)  nine  books  of 
Amours,  consisting  of  the  Amours  de  Francine,  in  four  books ;  the 
Amours  de  Meline,  in  two  books  ;  Amours  diverses,  in  three  books  ; — 
(2)  his  Meteores  ; — (3)  nine  books  of  Poems  on  all  sorts  of  subjects  ; — 
(4)  nineteen  Eclogues,  which  are  more  or  less  translations  or  imita- 
tions of  those  of  Theocritus  and  Virgil ; — (5)  five  books  of  Passe-temps ; 
— (6)  and  four  books  of  Mimes,  which  are  the  most  wearisome  collec- 
tion of  all  sorts  of  trivialities  and  moralities. 

The  best  and  only  modern  edition  is  that  of  Marty-Laveaux. 

II.  SCHOLARS  AND  TRANSLATORS 
V.— Henri  Estienne  [Paris,  1528;  1 1598,  Lyons]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Niceron,  in  his  Homines  illustres,  vol.  xxxvi.; — 
A.  Renouard,  Annales  de  rimprimeris  des  Estienne,  Paris,  1843 ; — 
Leon  Feugere,  Caracteres  et  portraits  du,  XVI"  siecle,  1859;  and  a 


64     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

haute  vertu,  a  symbolical  poem,  imitated  from  Petrarch, 
the  obscure  night  of  which,  if  the  expression  may  be 
ventured  on,  glitters  with  rare  beauties.  It  is,  how- 
ever, the  poets  of  the  Pleiad,  Pontus  de  Tyard,  Joachim 
du  Bellay,  Ronsard  and  Ba'if,  that  really  perceived  its 
force  and  revealed  it  to  us ;  and  herein  lies  the  essence 
of  the  revolution  they  effected  in  our  language,  litera- 
ture, and  poetry.  Their  aim  was  to  produce  "works  of 
art,"  and  this  ambition,  which  with  them  dominates 
every  other,  accounts  for  and  explains  their  subsidiary 
efforts. 

It  was  not,  for  instance,  as  grammarians,  or,  as  we 
should  say  at  the  present  day,  as  philologists,  but  as 
artists  that  they  endeavoured  to  reform  or  to  transform 
the  language,  with  a  view  to  rendering  it  capable  of  con- 
veying their  "  sublime  and  impassioned  conceptions,"  to 

new  edition,  Paris,  1875 ; — Sayous,  Les  Ecrivains  francais  de  la, 
Reformation,  2nd  ed.,  Paris,  1881. 

2.  THE  PUBLISHER,  PHILOLOGIST,  AND  WRITER. — The  Estienne 
family  [Cf.  Prosper  Marchand,  Dictionnaire  liistorique}. — A  scholar's 
education. — Henri's  first  publication :  Anacreontis  Teij  odce,  grcece 
et  latine,  1554. — Is  the  translation  by  Henri  Estienne  or  by  Dorat  ? — 
What  is  certain  is  the  influence  exerted  on  the  Pleiad  by  this  tiny 
volume. — Evidence  drawn  from  the  works  of  Ronsard  and  Remy 
Belleau. — Of  some  other  Greek  writers  published  for  the  first  time 
by  Henri  Estienne ; — that  they  are  all  of  the  second  or  third  rank ; — 
and  that  he  translated  them  all  into  Lathi. — Of  Estienne's  predilection 
for  Analccta  [Cf.  the  Adages  of  Erasmus] . — The  first  Latin  trans- 
lation of  the  Antliologie  grecque  and  the  first  Condones,  1570 ; — The 
Thesaurus  Grcecce  Linguce,  1572-1573. 

Estienne's  three  chief  treatises :— .La  conformite  du  Langage 
frangais  avec  le  grec,  1565 ;  Deux  dialogues  du  Langage  francais 
italianise,  1578 ;  La  Precellence  du  Langage  francais,  1579 ; — and 
their  connection  with  each  other. — Resistance  to  Italian  influences. — 
Of  Henri  Estienne's  views  upon  the  relations  between  French  and 
Greek  [Cf.  <T.  de  Maistre,  Soirees  de  Saint-Petersbourg,  2nd  Conversa- 
tion; and  Egger,  L'hellenisme  en  France,  lessons  10  and  11.]  — 


THE    FORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  G5 

use  the  expression  of  one  of  them,  and  above  all  in  order 
to  bring  to  light  its  more  hidden  and  previously  unper- 
ceived  beauties.  For  words  are  something  more  than  the 
signs  of  ideas,  and  a  language  is  not  merely  an  algebra 
or  an  organism  :  it  is  also  a  work  of  art.  There  are  poor 
languages  and  rich ;  rugged  languages  and  harmonious  ; 
languages  that  are  obscure  and  others  that  are  clear. 
Similarly,  the  reason  they  condemned  the  old  literary 
forms — the  ballad,  the  rondeau,  the  virelai,  the  chant 
royal,  and  "other  like  trivialities" — was  that  they 
seemed  to  them  somewhat  forced,  jejune  and  anti- 
quated ;  and  it  was  then  that  Bonsard,  guided  in  his 
effort  by  the  very  genius  of  rhythm,  himself  invented  so 
many  varieties,  that  some  are  found  in  his  work  that 
have  not  been  turned  to  account  down  to  the  present 
day.  And  lastly,  what  they  attempted  to  appropriate 

Henri  Estienne's  etymologies. — His  frequent  digressions  and  how 
almost  all  of  them  are  prompted  by  his  hatred  of  Italianism ; — by 
his  Protestantism ; — and  by  his  hatred  of  the  Valois. — The  result  is 
that  his  love  for  his  native  language  is  all  the  more  passionate. — 
Why  it  is  that  if  the  importance  of  his  Precellence  only  lay  in  its 
title  it  would  still  be  considerable. 

Is  Henri  Estienne  a  "writer"  ? — and  that  at  any  rate  neither  the 
verve  of  Rabelais  nor  the  artistic  preoccupations  of  Ronsard  are  to  be 
found  in  his  works. — Is  he  the  author  of  the  Quart  livre  de  Pantagruel, 
1564  ? — His  Apologie  pour  Herodote,  1566. — In  what  respect  the 
book  belies  its  title  and  is  at  bottom  only  a  Protestant  pamphlet ; — 
Henri  Estienne  and  Rabelais  on  the  subject  of  "  ecclesiastics." 
Comparison  between  the  Apologie  pour  Herodote  and  the  Quatriemc 
livre  de  Pantagruel. — Whether  some  few  "  tales  "  agreeably  told  justify 
Henri  Estienne  being  ranked  much  above  Bandello,  as  has  been 
done. — That  it  is  difficult  too,  to  detect  in  the  Apologie  a  foretaste  of 
the  Provinciates  [Cf.  Sacy,  Varietes  litteraires] . — Is  the  Discours 
merveilleux  des  deportements  de  Catherine  de  Medicis,  1575,  by  Henri 
Estienne  ? — His  last  years  and  his  death  in  the  Lyons  hospital. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  list  both  of  the  "  editions  "  and  of  the  works 
properly  so  called  of  Henri  Estienne  will  be  found  in  Renouard's 

6 


66     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

from  antiquity  was  not  its  "science"  or  its  "philosophy," 
but  its  "  art "  :  and  by  "  art "  it  is  to  be  understood  the 
secret  of  awaking  in  the  reader  the  impression  of  almost 
sensual  pleasure,  which  the  writers  of  the  Pleiad  them- 
selves experienced  when  reading  the  ^neid  or  the  Iliad, 
Pindar  or  Horace.  How  far  were  they  successful  ?  This 
is  another  question,  which  we  will  answer  in  a  word  by 
saying  that  they  may  have  erred  in  the  choice  of  their 
models,  assuredly  a  regrettable  and  serious  mistake  for 
imitators  to  make ;  and  they  pay  the  penalty  of  not 
having  been  always  alive  to  the  distance  that  separates 
Homer  from  Quintus  of  Smyrna  or  Virgil  from  Claudian. 
They  were  uncritical  or  they  lacked  the  spirit  of  dis- 
cernment ;  and  in  their  impatience  to  produce  their 
work  they  did  not  always  observe  the  conditions  of  fruit- 
ful imitation.  Still,  their  example  was  not  wasted.  Into 

Annales  de  V Imprimerie  des  Estienne.  We  have  cited  the  most 
important  of  these  books ;  we  shall  confine  ourselves  in  consequence 
to  mentioning  here  the  principal  new  editions,  which  are : 

That  of  the  Discours  merveilleux,  in  the  Archives  curieuses  de 
I'Histoire  de  France,  by  Cimber  and  Danjou ; — of  L  a  Precellence  by 
L.  Feugere,  Paris,  1850 ; — of  La  Conformite,  by  the  same,  Paris,  1853 ; 
— of  the  Apologie  pour  Herodote,  by  P.  Bistelhuber,  Paris,  1879 ; — 
and  of  the  Deux  Dialogues  du  langage  frangais  italianise,  Paris,  1883. 

VI. — Jacques  Amyot  [Melun,  1513  ;  f  1593,  Auxerre] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Eouillard,  Histoire  de  Melun ; — Bayle    in  his 
Dictionnaire,  article  AMYOT  ; — Abb4  Leboeuf,  Memoires  sur  V Histoire 
civile  et  ecclesiastique  d' Auxerre  ; — De  Blignieres,  Essai  sur  Amyot, 
Paris,  1851 ; — Leon  Feugere,  Caracteres  et  portraits  du  XVIe  siecle, 
Paris,  1859. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — A  passage  of  Montaigne  on  Amyot 
[Of.   Essais,   II.   chap,   iv.] . — Amyot's  parentage   and  youth ; — his 
studies  ; — his  tutorships ; — his  translation  of  the  romance  of  Helio- 
dorus,  1547. — He  is  appointed  abbe  of  Bellozane. — His  translation  of 
Diodorus  Siculus,  1554. — His  mission  to  the  Council  of  Trent  [Cf.  de 
Thou,  Hist,  universelle,  vol.  viii.] . — He  is  appointed  tutor  to  the 


THE    FOKMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  67 

a  literature  which  ignored  both  the  art  of  composition  and 
that  of  writing,  and  whose  masterpieces  had  previously 
been  scarcely  more  than  happy  accidents,  they  intro- 
duced the  sentiment  of  the  virtue  of  form  or  of  style ; 
and  while  this  does  not  constitute  all  that  is  meant 
by  classicism,  it  is  one  of  its  elements  or  essential 
"  factors." 

If  we  now  place  all  these  characteristics  in  juxtaposition 
— the  sentiment  of  art,  the  glorification  or  deification  of 
the  energies  of  nature,  and  the  development  of  indi- 
vidualism— it  has  already  been  seen  that  they  are 
closely  dependent  on  one  another.  The  very  notion  of 
a  perfection  that  surpasses  nature  or  that  completes 
it  can  only  be  derived  from  the  observation  of  nature, 
and  only  be  realised  in  the  work  of  art  with  and 
by  methods  that  are  themselves  furnished  by  nature. 

princes  of  the  blood,  1554 ; — grand  almoner,  1561 : — and  bishop  of 
Auxerre,  1570. 

Of  some  translators  prior  to  Amyot ; — Lefevre  d'Etaples  and  his 
translation  of  the  New  Testament,  1523 ; — Lazare  de  Baif  and  his 
translation  of  the  Electra,  1537 ; — Pierre  Saliat  and  his  translation 
of  Herodotus,  1537; — Views  of  Thomas  Sibilet  and  du  Bellay  upon 
translations  from  the  ancients ; — and  what  do  they  mean  when  they 
affirm  that  "the  translators  are  the  source  of  more  profit  to  us  than 
the  authors  themselves  "  ? — The  translations  of  the  Greek  poets  in  the 
work  of  the  Pleiad  [Cf .  Gandar,  Ronsard  imitateur  d'Homere  et  de  Pin- 
dare]  . — Of  the  translators  of  Plutarch  who  preceded  Amyot. 

Of  the  choice  of  Plutarch  ; — and  in  this  connection  of  some  modern 
opinions  [Dacier,  Villemain,  Ch.  Graux  in  his  edition  of  the  Lives  of 
Demosthenes  and  Cicero]  on  the  author  of  the  Vies  Paralleles. — The 
attractiveness  of  biographies  ; — remarkable  skill  with  which  Plutarch 
puts  his  heroes  before  the  reader ; — moral  tendency  of  his  work. — That 
Plutarch  in  his  Scripta  Moralia  touched  upon  all  the  ideas  of  his 
time ; — and  in  this  connection  of  a  superiority  of  the  writers  con- 
temporary with  the  Empire  over  the  more  classic  writers  of  Greek 
literature. — In  consequence  Plutarch  was  the  best  author  that  could 
have  been  put  before  the  readers  of  the  time  of  the  Renaissance. 


68  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

It  will  further  be  noted  that  these  characteristics, 
taken  together  or  separately,  are  in  opposition  to  the 
characteristics  of  the  spirit  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Not 
only  did  the  Middle  Ages  lack  the  sentiment  of  form, 
but  they  were  constantly  suspicious  of  nature  as  of 
a  teacher  of  error  or  of  a  power  hostile  to  man ;  and 
the  essence  of  their  policy  was  the  imprisonment  of 
the  individual  in  the  shackles  of  his  corporation,  his 
class  or  his  caste.  And  since  every  created  thing  bears 
within  it,  by  the  very  conditions  of  its  birth,  the 
germ  of  its  future  death,  it  must  not  be  overlooked, 
that  just  as  the  sentiment  of  form  was  capable  of 
speedily  leading  up  to  the  conception  of  a  beauty  in- 
dependent of  its  contents,  so  the  glorification  of  the 
energies  of  nature  carried  with  it  the  possibility  of 
an  ultimate  justification  even  of  immorality;  and  the 

Amyot's  translation  ; — and  whether  he  has  made  more  than  "  two 
thousand  blunders  "  as  Meziriac  declared. — Opinion  of  Ch.  Graux : 
"Amyot's  translation  is  of  real  philological  value." — That  this  point, 
however,  is  here  secondary ; — and  that  it  is  the  style  of  Amyot's 
Plutarch  that  we  are  concerned  with. — Amyot's  translation  naive, 
natural,  graceful  and  vigorous. — Comparison  between  some  passages 
in  Amyot  and  the  corresponding  passages  in  Rabelais  [in  his  Panta- 
gruel,  iii.,  chap,  xxviii.,  cf.  Traite  de  la  cessation  des  oracles]  ; — in 
Shakespeare  [in  his  Julius  Caesar,  cf.  Vie  d'Antoine]  ; — in  Joseph  de 
Maistre  [Traite  des  delais  de  la  justice  divine]. 

Last  years  of  Amyot's  life. — His  translation  of  Plutarch's  moral  and 
miscellaneous  works. — Amyot  at  the  "  States  "  of  Blois. — His  role 
during  the  League. — His  return  to  Auxerre,  and  his  death. — General 
idea  of  the  services  rendered  by  his  translations. — To  what  extent 
Amyot's  work  profited  by  the  circumstances  of  his  life. — A  passage  of 
Rivarol  on  the  utility  of  translations  [preface  to  his  translation  of 
Dante] . — Duration  of  the  influence  of  Amyot's  Plutarch,  and  the 
reasons  of  this  influence. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Theagene  et  Chariclee,  1547  ; — Les  sept  livres 
des  histoires  de  Diodore  Sicilien,  1554 ; — Daphnis  et  Chloe,  1559  ; — 
Les  Vies  des  hommes  illustres  grecs  et  latins,  1st  edition,  1559  ; 


THE   FORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  69 

development  of  individualism  that  of  the  ultimate  des- 
truction of  society. 


II 

This  was  not  perceived  at  once  by  the  Church  nor  even 
by  Royalty,  a  fact  that  is  sufficiently  surprising  !  The 
Popes — at  least  a  certain  number  of  Popes — took  a  keen 
pleasure  in  making  the  capital  of  Christianity  the  capital 
of  the  Renaissance ;  and  in  France,  Francis  I.,  the 
"  Father  of  Letters,"  either  did  not  comprehend  the 
nature  of  the  revolution  that  was  in  progress,  or  only 
concerned  himself  with  the  immediate  advantages  he 
was  able  to  derive  from  it.  But  when  the  general 
corruption  of  morals  by  which  this  self-confident  enthu- 

2nd  edition,  1565 ;  3rd  edition,  1567. — CEuvres  morales  et  melees  de 
Plutarque,  1st  edition,  1572 ;  2nd  edition,  1574 ;  3rd  edition,  1575. 
Amyot  has  also  left  a  few  short  works,  such  as  the  Projet  de  V Elo- 
quence royale,  written  for  Henri  III.  ;  and  the  Apology  in  which  he 
rebuts  the  charge  of  having  been  mixed  up  in  the  assassination  of 
the  Duke  of  Guise. 

The  best  edition  of  his  Plutarque  is  that  of  Vascosan  [3rd  edition  of 
the  Vies  and  2nd  of  the  (Euvres  melees]  forming  15  volumes  in  18mo. 

VII.— <Jean  Bodin  [Angers,  1530  ;  f  1593,  Laon]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Bayle,   in  his  Dictionnaire,   article   BODIN  ; — 
Niceron,  in  his  Homynes  illustres,  vol.  xvii. ; — Baudrillart,  Bodin  et 
son  temps,  Paris,  1853. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — Scarceness  of  information. — Was 
he  of  Hebrew  extraction  ?    [Cf .  Ant.  Possevini  de  quibusdam  scriptis 
.  .  .  judicium,  1583] . — Early   studies  of   Bodin. — He  starts   with  a 
translation  of  Oppian's  Cynegetica. — His  Eeponse  a  M.  de  Malestroit, 
and  the  beginnings  of  political  economy. — His  Methode  pour  la  con- 
naisance  de  Vliistoire  and  his  quarrel  with  Cujas. — That  his  protest 
against  the  authority   of  Roman  Law,  is  of  the  same  order  as  the 
protests  of  his  contemporaries  against  the  sovereignty  of  Aristotle. 


70     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOBY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

siasm  was  followed  began  to  be  clear,  when  it  was 
perceived  that  it  was  in  a  certain  sense  the  very  founda- 
tions of  human  society  that  were  imperilled  by  this 
philosophy  of  nature,  it  seemed  that  at  this  price  the 
miracles  of  art  were  being  too  dearly  paid : — and  the 
Keformation  broke  out. 

Nothing  could  be  more  erroneous,  or  proof  of  a  more 
superficial  philosophy,  than  to  represent  the  Reformation 
as  analogous  in  its  principle  to  the  Renaissance,  of  which 
it  is  exactly  the  opposite.  The  only  point  they  had  in 
common  was,  that  they  both  contributed  for  a  short  while 
to  the  emancipation  of  the  individual.  In  consequence 
they  were  confronted  for  a  moment  by  the  same  enemies, 
the  schoolmen  and  the  theologians,  and  for  a  moment 
they  fought  the  same  fight.  Let  us  further  admit,  if  it 
be  wished,  that  in  order  to  abolish  a  detested  state  of 

His  Bepublique.  Bodin's  originality  ; — his  conception  of  history ; — 
and  that  to  appreciate  him  it  is  well  to  keep  in  view  Sir  Thomas 
More's  Utopia  and  Machiavelli's  Prince. — He  attempts  to  conciliate 
morality  and  politics. — His  theory  of  slavery,  book  i.,  chap.  v. ; — his 
chapter  on  monarchy,  ii.,  chap.  ii. ; — his  theory  of  revolutions,  iv., 
chap.  iii. ; — his  theory  on  climates,  v.,  chap.  i. — He  is  a  mixture  of 
erudition  and  credulity. — Whether  it  can  be  said  that  he  conceived 
the  idea  of  Progress  [Cf.  his  Methode,  chap,  vii.,  Confutatio  eorum 
qui  .  .  .  aurea  scecula  ponunt,  and  his  Repiiblique,  v.,  chap,  i.]  ; — 
Of  Bodin  as  a  predecessor  of  Montesquieu. 

Other  works  of  Bodin ; — and  how  the  author  of  the  Republique  is  at 
the  same  time  that  of  the  Demonomanie  des  sorciers  and  of  the  Hepta- 
plomercs. — Of  the  belief  of  his  contemporaries  in  sorcery  ; — and  that 
the  Protestants  believe  in  it  no  less  firmly  than  the  Catholics ; — how 
does  Bodin  reconcile  his  belief  in  sorcerers  with  his  religious  scepti- 
cism ? — History  of  the  Heptaplomeres.  [Cf.  Guhrauer,  in  his  edition, 
1841,  Berlin.] 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Translation  into  Latin  of  Oppian's  Cynegetica, 
1555  ; — Methodus  ad  facilem  liistoriarum  cognitionem,  1566 ; — 
Reponse  aux  paradoxes  de  M.  de  Malestroit  sur  V  enclierissement 
de  toutes  choses,  1568  ; — Six  books  of  the  Repiiblique,  1577  ; 


THE   FORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  71 

things,  the  one  and  the  other,  and  the  one  after  the  other, 
found  or  sought  in  the  present  their  weapons  against  the 
past.  Here,  however,  the  resemblances  between  them  are 
at  an  end.  Is  not  the  second,  moreover,  most  deceptive, 
if  it  be  a  fact  that  while  the  Renaissance  made  for  the 
rooting  out  of  Christianity  in  the  world  and  the  revival 
of  Paganism,  the  efforts  of  the  Reformation,  on  the 
contrary,  were  directed  precisely  towards  bringing  Christ- 
ianity back  to  the  severity  of  its  primitive  institutions'? 
Is  it  necessary  to  recall  in  this  connection  the  words 
of  Luther  so  often  quoted  ?  "  We  Germans  .  .  . 
resemble  a  bare  canvas,  while  the  Italians  are  tricked 
out  and  garish  with  all  sorts  of  false  opinions.  .  .  . 
Their  fasts  are  more  magnificent  than  our  most  sump- 
tuous feasts.  .  .  .  Where  we  expend  a  florin  on 
clothes,  they  devote  ten  to  a  silk  garment.  .  .  .  They 

— La  Demonomanie  des  sorciers,  1582; — Amphitheatrum  natures, 
1596 ; — Heptaplomeres.  This  last  work  only  existed  in  manuscript 
until  M.  Guhrauer's  edition  of  it  in  1841. 

There  is  no  modern  edition  of  the  works  of  J.  Bodin. 

III. — THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CLASSIC  DRAMA 
VIII.— The  first  period  of  the  Classic  Drama  [1552-1570]. 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — The    brothers    Parfaict,  Histoire    du    tlieatre 
francais  ;  L'ancien  tJiedtre  francais,  published  by  Viollet-le-Duc  ; — 
Ebert,  EntwicTtelungs-gescliichte  der  franzosiclien   Tragodie,  1856, 
Gotha; — Edelestand  du  Meril,  Da  developpement  de  la  tragedie  en 
France,    Paris,    1869;  —  Emile   Faguet,    La   tragedie  francaise   au 
XVP  siecle,  Paris,  1883. 

2.  THE  AUTHORS  AND  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  TRAGIC  DRAMA. — 
The  decree  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris  [17  November,  1548]  forbidding 
the  Brothers  of  the  Passion  to  "  play  the  Mystery  of  the  Passion  of 
Our  Lord  or  other  Sacred  Mysteries  "  ; — and  whether  the  Parliament 
in  issuing  this  decree  intended  to  sacrifice  the  Mysteries  "  to  the  Pagan 
enthusiasm  of  the  poets  of  the  New  School  "  ? — Italian  origin  of  the 
classic  drama. — Petrarch's  Triomphes  [Cf.  in  particular  the  Triomplie 


72  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

celebrate  the  Carnival  with  extreme  impropriety  and 
folly."  [Cf.  Michelet,  Memoires  de  Luther;  and  Merle 
d'Aubigne,  La  Reformation  au  temps  de  Luther.}  How 
was  it  possible  for  him  to  state  more  clearly,  that  what 
aroused  his  indignation  in  Rome,  was  precisely  the 
spectacle  of  the  Renaissance '?  Far  from  having  any  hold 
on  him,  it  was  the  very  splendour  of  the  arts,  the 
magnificence  of  the  fetes,  the  luxury  of  the  dress  that 
forced  him  into  a  schism.  And  in  preaching  the  Refor- 
mation, it  was  not  merely  the  Papacy  as  such  that  he  was 
fighting,  nor  Catholicism,  but  it  was  the  very  spirit  of 
the  Renaissance  that  he  wished  to  destroy  and  over  which 
he  was  nearly  triumphant. 

I  am  not  sure  that  the  same  intention  is  not  even 
more  manifest  in  the  work  of  Calvin.  We  hold  him 
rightly  to  be  one  of  our  great  writers,  and  the  Institution 

de  V Amour,  and  the  Triomphe  de  la  Benommee] ; — Trissin's  Sopho- 
niabe,  1515  ; — Tragic  drama  in  Italy  from  1515  to  1550  [Cf.  Ginguene, 
Histoire  litteraire  d'ltalie,  vol.  vi.,  chap.  19,  20,  and  21] ; — Lazare 
de  Baif's  translations  [Electro,  and  Hecuba] ;  those  of  Bonaventure 
des  Periers  [Andrienne] ;  of  Konsard  [Plutus] ; — the  representations 
in  the  colleges  ; — Jodelle's  Cleopdtre,  1552. — Hesitation  of  the  Pleiad 
between  tragedy  and  comedy. 

The  preference  is  accorded  tragedy,  thanks  to  Scaliger's  Poetique, 
1561; — thanks  to  the  popularity  of  Seneca's  tragedies  ; — andthans 
finally  to  the  success  of  Amyot's  Plutarque. 

La  Mort  de  Jules  Cesar,  by  J.  Grevin,  1560 ; — The  determination  of 
the  characteristics  of  tragedy  [Cf.  Scaliger,  Poetices  libri  septem, 
book  i.,  chap.  5,  6,  8,  9,  11,  16] ; — the  choice  of  subjects. — The  rule  of 
the  unities.— Jean  and  Jacques  de  la  Taille. — Of  the  unity  of  tone  of 
the  tragedies  of  the  Renaissance. — Of  the  advantage  the  writers  find 
in  treating  well-known  subjects,  and  even  subjects  already  dealt  with. 
— The  utilisation  of  history  in  tragedy.  The  trend  of  classic  tragedy 
is  already  determined  in  1570. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Of  Jodelle  :  Cleopdtre,  Didon  and  Eugene  ; — of 
Jean  de  la  Taille,  Medee,  1554 ; — of  Ch.  Toutain,  Agamemnon,  1556  ; 
— of  Jacques  Grevin,  La  Mort  de  Cesar,  1560 ; — of  Gabriel  Bounyn, 


THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  73 

Chretienne  is  one  of  the  noble  books  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  It  is  certain,  on  the  other  hand,  that  no  book 
could  conceivably  be  more  different  from  the  Pantagruel  of 
Rabelais,  and  that  none  can  be  named  that  is  less  "  confit 
en  mepris  des  choses  fortuites,"  or  that  expresses  less  con- 
fidence in  the  goodness  of  nature.  Nobody  has  believed 
to  a  less  degree  than  Calvin,  that  it  is  possible  for  man, 
without  aid  and  succour  from  on  high,  to  escape  from  his 
natural  "  filth,"  or  to  prevent  himself  continually  falling 
back  into  it.  Nobody  has  been  less  of  opinion,  that  we 
are  justified  in  freely  abandoning  ourselves  to  our  instincts, 
and  in  making  the  joy  of  satisfying  them  to  the  full  the 
unique  ambition  of  our  existence.  Nobody  even  has 
believed  to  a  less  degree  that  liberty  has  been  granted 
us  that  we  may  turn  it  to  account,  for,  on  the  contrary, 
he  held  that  its  rightful  use  lay  in  its  abdication.  So 

La  Sultane,  1561 ; — of  F.  Le  Duchat,  Agamemnon,  1561  ; — of 
Jacques  de  la  Taille,  Daire  et  Alexandre,  1562 ; — of  N.  Filleul, 
Achille,  1563,  and  Lucrece,  1567  ;  — of  Florent  Crestien,  La  fille  de 
Jephte,  1567  ; — of  Jacques  de  la  Taille,  Saul  le  Furieux,  1568. 

Few  of  these  works,  with  the  exception  of  those  of  Jodelle,  have 
been  reprinted  in  modern  times.  There  is,  however,  a  modern  edition 
of  the  Mort  de  Cesar,  Marburg,  1886. 

IX.— Robert  Gamier  [La  Ferte-Bernard,  1534 ;  f  1590,  Le  Mans.] 

1.  THE   SOURCES. — Niceron,  in  his  Homines  illustres,  vol.  xxi. ; — 
A.   Ebert,    Entivickelungs-geschichte    des   franzosischen    Tragodie, 
Gotha,  1856  ; — B.  Haureau,  Histoire  letteraire  du  Maine,  Paris,  1872  ; 
— Einile  Faguet,  La  tragedie  francaise  au  XVI'  siecle,  Paris,  1883 ; 
— P.  Bernage,  Etude  sur  Robert  Gamier,  Paris,  s.d. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  POET. — Extraordinary  popularity  of  Garnier's 
tragedies ; — more  than  forty  editions  in  less  than  forty  years  from 
1586-1616  ; — and  were   they  represented '? — His   Roman   tragedies  : 
Porcie,  Cornelie,  Antigone ; — and  that  they  are  simply  history  inter- 
spersed with  lyric  and  descriptive  interludes  [Cf.  the  choruses ;  and 
in  Porcia  :   Description  of  Hell,  verses  45-66 ;   Description  of  the 
Ages  of  Humanity,  verse  725  and  fol.  ;   TJie  Labours  of  Hercules, 


74     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OP   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

much  for  the  essence  of  his  book.  As  for  its  manner, 
having  regard  to  its  monumental  severity,  there  was 
never  a  book  whose  beauty  was  less .  "  aesthetic,"  so  to 
speak,  or  at  the  same  time  more  logical.  In  no  book  has 
the  art  of  the  writer  consisted  more  manifestly  in  being 
able  to  dispense  with  art,  in  renouncing  every  expedient, 
even  those  that  are  most  legitimate,  by  which  the  feelings 
of  the  reader  may  be  interested  in  the  truth  of  the  doc- 
trine taught.  In  no  book,  to  conclude,  has  assuredly 
vigorous  thought  adopted  to  express  itself  what  Bossuet 
has  termed  a  "  sadder  "  style  ;  and  I  fancy  that  he  means 
a  style  more  proper  to  discourage  the  reader.  Such,  too, 
is  the  opinion  of  Eonsard,  who  is  disturbed,  offended, 
and  wounded  in  his  artistic  instincts  by  this  gloomy 
Puritanism ;  and  I  was  mistaken  just  now  when  I  said 
that  the  Institution  Chretienne  differs  from  no  book  so 

verses  1076-1110]. — Abundance  of  translations. — Influence  of  Seneca. 
— Greek  tragedies :  Hippolyte,  Antigone  and  La  Troade ; — that 
Gamier  composed  this  latter  piece  by  combining  the  Hercules  and 
Troades  of  Euripides  and  the  Troades  of  Seneca. — Analysis  of  Hip- 
polyte.— Noticeable  effort  of  the  poet  in  the  direction  of  psychology 
[Cf.  Hippolyte,  verses  545-690,  verse  1360  and  fol. ;  verses  1963- 
2l50]. — The  first  tragi-comedy  :  Bradamante. — That  Garnier's 
Bradamante  marks  a  decisive  moment  in  the  history  of  the  drama : 
tragedy  "retreats"  and  gives  way  to  tragi-comedy. — Glance  at  the 
state  of  the  drama  in  Europe  at  the  same  period.— Whether  this 
eclipse  of  tragedy  is  or  is  not  a  symptom  of  emancipation  from  the 
ancients  ? — Qualities  of  Garnier's  tragedies  : — loftiness  of  his  imagi- 
nation ; — his  style  is  that  of  Bonsard's  school. — Further  that  he  was 
mistaken  in  his  view  of  the  nature  of  dramatic  action ; — of  the  means 
of  interesting  the  public ; — and  in  the  choice  of  his  models. 

3.  THE  WOKKS. — They  are  almost  restricted  to  his  tragedies  : — 
Porcie,  1568 ; — Hippolyte,  1573  ;^Cornelie,  1574 ; — Marc  Antoine, 
1578; — La  Troade,  1578; — Antigone,  1579; — Bradamante,  1580 
(tragi-comedy) ; — and  Les  Juives,  1583. 

He  is  also  the  author  of  an  Hymne  a  la  monarchie,  1567  ; — and  of 
an  Elegie  sur  le  trepan  de  Bon-sard. 


THE    FORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  75 

much  as  from  Rabelais'  romance  :  it  differs  at  least  as 
much  from  the  Sonnets  a  Cassandre,  from  the  Ode  a 
I' Hospital,  and  from  the  Hymne  de  VOr. 

But  this  is  why  it  is  that  we  shall  not  be  surprised  at  the 
resistance  the  Reformation  encountered  at  first  in  France. 
France  had  not  emancipated  itself  from  the  domination 
of  scholasticism  to  fall  at  once  under  the  tyranny  of  Pro- 
testant Puritanism.  Having  tasted  the  seductions  of 
independence  and  of  art,  it  was  not  going  to  allow  itself 
to  be  deprived  of  them  for  the  future.  It  had  not  cast 
aside  what  it  held  to  be  too  "  Germanic  "  in  its  constitu- 
tion, as  contained  in  the  feudal  system,  in  order  to 
reinstate,  in  the  shape  of  Protestantism,  something  at 
least  as  "  Germanic."  For  this  is  a  further  point  on 
which  the  spirit  of  the  Reformation  is  opposed  to  that 
of  the  Renaissance ;  indeed  it  is  perhaps  the  most  im- 

An  excellent  edition  of  Robert  Garnier's  dramas  has  been  issued 
by  M.  Wendelin  Forster,  4  vols.,  Heilbronn,  1882-1884. 

X.— The  "beginnings  of  Comedy. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — The  brothers  Parfaict,  Histoire  du  theatre  fran- 
cais  ; — L'Ancien   theatre  francais,    edited   by    Viollet-le-Duc  ; — Ch. 
Magnin :  Les  commencements  de  la  comedie  italienne  en  France,  in 
the  Eevue  des  Deux  Mondes  for  December  15,  1847 ; — Rathery :  In- 
fluence de  I'ltalie  sur  lea  lettres  francaises,  Paris,  1853  ;    Armand 
Baschet,  Lcs  Comediens  italiens  a  la  cour  de  France,  Paris,  1882 ; — 
Ad.  Gaspary,  Storia  della  litteratura  italiana,  translated  from  the 
German,  Turin,  1891,  vol.  ii.,  second  part. 

2.  THE  AUTHORS  AND   THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   COMEDY. — The  last 
soties. — That  comedy  in  France  is  not  of  French,  nor  of  purely  Latin 
but  of  Italian  origin. — Italian  comedy  of  the  sixteenth  century ; — 
its  Latin  sources ; — its  popular  and  national  sources  :  La  Commedia 
deir  Arte. — Influence  of  the  "  novellieri." — The  personages  of  this 
comedy. — Disguises,  misunderstandings  and  recognitions. — The  plot 
hinges    upon    the   valet ; — and    this    continues   the   case   until    the 
Mariage  de  Figaro. — The  Italian  comedians  in  France  ; — the   first 
troupe  of   Gclosi,  1571  [Cf.  Baschet,  op.  citJ]  ; — the  second  Gelosi, 


76  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

portant  point.  When  one  attempts  to  arrive  at  the  very 
essence  of  their  opposition,  it  seems  to  lie  in  one  of  those 
racial  antagonisms  that  of  all  are  the  most  insuperable. 
Those  who  lived  at  the  time  overlooked  this  fact  at  first, 
but  they  were  quick  to  recognise  their  mistake.  They 
awoke  to  the  necessity  of  choosing  whether  they  would 
become  Germans  or  retain  their  Latin  race,  whether  they 
would  follow  the  path  that  humanism  was  treading,  or 
attach  to  moral  preoccupations  a  greater  importance  than 
to  those  of  every  other  order ;  and  the  differentiation  of 
the  literatures  of  the  North  from  the  literatures  of  the 
South  was  the  outcome  of  this  conflict.  [Cf.  Mine 
de  Stael,  De  V Allemagne ;  and  H.  Taine,  Litterature 
anglaise.~]  It  will  be  seen  that  it  exactly  coincides  with 
the  division  of  the  Europe  of  the  Middle  Ages  into  two 
great  "nations,"  which,  separated  for  the  future,  will  not 

1577  ; — and  is  it  a  fact  that  they  played  the  comedies  of  Pierre  de 
Larrivey  ? 

Pierre  de  Larrivey  [1540-1612]  ; — his  Italian  origin ; — his  transla- 
tion of  the  Facetieuses  Nuits  de  Straparole,  1576 ; — his  comedies, 
1579. — There  is  not  one  of  the  nine  that  is  not  translated  or 
'adapted"  from  some  Italian  comedy. — Declaration  of  Larrivey  in 
his  Dedication  to  M.  d'Amboise. — It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  his 
comedies  are  all  in  prose. — They  are  examples  of  the  comedy  of  pure 
intrigue. — The  principal  point  of  interest  in  connection  with  them  is 
that  they  were  imitated  later  on  by  Moliere  [Cf .  in  particular  L'Avare 
on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  Le  Laquais,  L,  sc.  1 ; — La  Veuve 
(the  author  of  the  Italian  original  of  which  is  a  Bonaparte),  iii.,  sc.  2 ; 
— and  Les  Esprits,  iii.,  sc.  6]. — Of  a  curious  difference  in  the  tone 
of  the  first  and  last  of  Larrivey's  comedies  :  La  Constance,  Le 
Fidcle,  Les  Trompeuses ; — and  in  what  respect  the  latter  are  more 
romantic. 

Of  some  other  authors  of  comedies  :  Jean  Godard,  Odet  de  Tur- 
nebe,  etc. — The  development  of  comedy,  as  that  of  tragedy  had  been, 
is  interrupted  by  the  success  of  tragi-comedy. — Was  French  society  of 
the  time  of  Charles  IX.  and  Henry  III.  ripe  for  comedy  ? — Eeasons 
for  doubting  that  it  was  ; — the  principal  of  which  is  the  license  that 


THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  77 

be  drawn  together,  will  not  again  meet  in  the  course  of 
their  literary  evolution  for  a  long  time  to  come.  The 
transition  from  the  homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous  is 
accomplished,  and  the  work  of  differentiation  will  not  be 
interrupted  again.  It  is  here  that  comes  to  an  end  with 
the  history  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  history  of  "  Euro- 
pean "  literature,  and  that  begins  with  the  history  of 
nationalities  that  of  modern  literatures. 


Ill 

One  of  the  first  consequences  of  the  transformation 
that  is  beginning  is  what  has  been  happily  termed  the 
Latinisation  of  culture.  [Cf .  Burckhardt,  Civilisation  au 
temps  de  la  Renaissance.]  Little  by  little,  and  almost 
without  being  aware  or  conscious  of  what  they  are  about, 

reigned  at  the  time  in  satire. — A  second  may  be  found  in  the  circum- 
stance that  the  national  character  was  still  unfixed : — what  makes 
one  race  laugh  has  not  the  same  effect  on  another,  and  the  French 
character  was  scarcely  formed. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Jodelle's  Eugene  ; — Remy  Belleau's  La  Reconnue ; 
— J.  H.  de  Baif's  translations,  the  Eunuque  and  the  Miles  gloriosus  ; 
— Grevin's  La  Tresoriere,  1558,  Les  Esbahis,  1560 ; — Jean  de  la 
Taille's  Les  Corriveaux,  1562 ; — Louis  le  Jars'  Lucelle,  1576  ; — Pierre 
Larrivey's  first  collection,  containing  Le  Laquais,  La  Veuve,  Les 
Esprits,  Le  Morfondu,  Les  Jaloux,  Les  Escoliers,  1579 ; — Odet  de 
Turnebe's  Les  Contens,  1580. 

P.  Larrivey's  comedies  have  been  reprinted  by  Viollet-le-Duc  in 
his  Ancien  theatre  francais,  vols.  v.,  vi.  and  vii. 

XL— The  Work  of  the  Pleiad. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Cf.  the  texts  given  above  and  add :  Vauquelin  de 
la  Fresnaye :  Art  poetique,  edit.  G.  Pellissier,  Paris,  1885  ; — Mathurin 
Regnier,  in  his  Satires,  in  particular  Satire  V.  and  Satire  IX.  ; — 
A.  P.  Lemercier,  Etudes  sur  .  .  .  Vauquelin  de  la  Fresnaye,  Nancy, 
1887  ; — Ferdinand  Brunot,  La  doctrine  de  Malherbe,  Paris,  1891 ; 
E.  Faguet,  XVIe  siecle,  Paris,  1894  ; — and  Marty-Laveaux,  La  langue 
de  la  Pleiade  in  the  collection  of  the  PUiade  francaise.  It  will  be 


78  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

it  is  to  the  Latin  school  that  our  poets  attach  themselves, 
though  they  continue  the  while  to  profess  a  great  admira- 
tion for  Grecian  models ;  they  are  disposed  to  imitate 
Horace  rather  than  Pindar ;  and  this  tendency  is  so 
general  that  even  Ronsard,  in  his  Franciade,  but  more 
especially  in  his  theory  of  the  epopee,  though  he  invoke 
the  great  name  of  Homer,  draws  his  inspiration  in  reality 
from  Virgil  alone.  A  scholar  of  renown,  Julius  Caesar 
Scaliger,  goes  a  step  further  in  his  Poetique,  in  which  he 
openly  proclaims  the  superiority  of  the  Latins  over  the 
Greeks.  Is  it  that  he  is  alive  to  the  circumstance  that 
the  Greeks,  as  a  philosopher  will  point  out  later  [Hegel, 
Esthetique,  trans.  Benard,  vol.  i.],  were  only  acquainted 
with  the  Greeks  and  barbarians,  whereas  the  Latins 
attained  to  a  knowledge  of  man  ?  However  this  may  be, 
towards  1560,  or  thereabouts,  in  spite  of  certain  efforts, — 

well  to  consult  from  a  general  point  of  view :  A.  Couat's  Poesie 
alexandrine,  Paris,  1882. 

2.  THE  WORK  OF  THE  PLEIAD. — As  regards  style ;  it  gave  the 
alexandrine  verse  a  definite  footing  in  French  poetry. — Comparison 
between  the  ten-syllable  verse  and  the  alexandrine. — The  Pleiad  put 
into  circulation  for  poetical  use  all  the  rhythms  which  we  employ  ; — 
it  considerably  enriched  the  language ; — and  in  this  connection  what 
importance  is  to  be  attached  to  the  reproach  addressed  by  Ronsard 
of  having  "  spoken  Greek  and  Latin  in  French  "  ? — The  Pleiad  also 
taught  French  poets  and  even  prose  writers  the  "  intrinsic  strength  " 
of  words  ;  that  is  that  in  every  language,  and  independently  of  their 
meaning,  there  are  beautiful  words  and  ugly  words. — Of  some  exag- 
gerations of  the  Eomanticists  on  this  score  [Of.  Th.  Gautier,  Notice 
sur  Baudelaire]. — Finally  the  Pleiad  set  itself  the  task  of  raising  the 
dignity  of  the  poet  simultaneously  with  that  of  poetry ; — and  it  was 
successful. — Of  the  acclimatisation  of  the  literary  forms  of  antiquity 
in  our  literature. 

The  Pleiad  would  have  been  more  successful  still  but  for  having 
committed  three  capital  errors  : — (1)  It  blundered  in  the  choice  of 
models,  confounding  them  all  in  a  like  admiration  provided  they  were 
ancient ; — (2)  It  blundered  as  to  the  conditions  to  which  literary 


THE   FOEMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  79 

such  as  those  of  Henri  Estienne  in  his  Conformite  du 
langage  fran^ois  avec  le  grec, — the  language  of  Homer 
and  Plato  is  seen  to  drop  out  of  general  circulation,  so  to 
speak,  and  to  retire  to  the  seclusion  of  the  colleges.  It  is 
the  object  once  again  of  the  attention  of  none  but  the 
erudite.  It  is  no  longer  to  Sophocles  or  Aristophanes 
that  the  earliest  authors  of  our  "  classic  "  tragedies  and 
comedies  will  go  for  lessons  in  their  art,  but  to  Plautus 
and  to  Seneca.  The  imitation  of  "  antiquity  "  is,  or  will 
soon  be  confined  to  the  imitation  of  Latin  antiquity ;  and 
thus  it  is  that  Greek,  like  a  leaven  that  is  only  destined 
to  contribute  to  a  combination  into  which  it  is  not  to 
enter,  is  eliminated  from  the  classic  ideal  after  serving  to 
determine  it. 

Be  it  remarked,  moreover,  that  if  Greek  has  great 
qualities,  Latin  has  others,  more  suited,  perhaps,  to 

forms  are  subject,  thinking  it  could  create  forms  at  will  without 
regard  to  time,  place,  or  the  laws  of  the  human  mind. — Theory  of  the 
Epopee  considered  as  the  expression  of  a  conflict  of  races ; — Theory  of 
Lyricism  considered  as  the  expression  of  the  personality  of  the  poet ; 
— Theory  of  the  Drama  considered  as  an  encounter  between  the  force 
of  circumstances  and  the  human  will. — (3)  Finally  the  Pleiad  was 
mistaken  as  to  its  real  capacities;  it  was  not  sufficiently  cog- 
nisant of  its  deficiencies  in  the  matters  of  experience  of  life  and 
observation  of  man. 

Still,  and  even  as  regards  subject  matter,  its  errors  do  not  prevent 
its  having  marked  out  the  boundaries  as  it  were  of  classicism. — It  was 
alive  to  or  at  least  had  an  inkling  of  the  potentialities  of  style; — it 
recognised  in  what  true  imitation  consists ; — and  the  nature  of  the 
transition  from  imitation  to  invention  [Cf.  on  this  head  Andre 
Chenier,  Epitre  IV.  a  M.  Lebrun  and  his  Invention]  ; — it  communi- 
cated to  its  successors  the  ambition  of  putting  the  dignity  of  the 
French  language  on  a  level  with  that  of  Greek  and  Lathi ; — and 
finally  it  laid  down  in  advance  even  the  limits  of  classic  art. — In  this 
sense  Ronsard,  lyricism  excepted,  is  already  Malherbe ; — and  Malherbe, 
when  completed  by  the  wide  acquirements  and  the  integrity  of 
reflection  in  which  he  will  be  wanting,  will  be  already  Boileau. 


80     MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

the  nature  of  the  French  genius.  "  The  dignity,  it  has 
been  said,  of  the  Latin  language  is  unequalled.  .  .  . 
It  was  spoken  by  the  sovereign  people,  who  stamped  it 
with  that  character  of  grandeur  that  is  unique  in  the 
history  of  human  language.  ...  It  is  the  language  of 
civilisation.  Mingled  with  the  speech  of  our  barbarian 
forefathers,  it  had  the  power  to  refine,  to  render  supple, 
to  spiritualise  those  rude  tongues  which  have  become 
what  we  see.  .  .  .  Take  the  map  of  the  world  and  draw 
a  line  within  which  this  universal  language  was  spoken  : 
it  marks  the  limits  of  civilisation  and  of  the  European 
stock.  .  .  .  The  Latin  language  is  the  sign  of  the 
European  "  [Joseph  de  Maistre,  Du  Pape] .  The  French- 
men of  the  Renaissance  recognised  this,  and  though  they 
might  have  been  unable  to  adduce  the  reasons  just  set 
forth,  they  were  the  reasons  that  induced  them  to  return 

THIRD  PERIOD 

From  the  Publication  of  the  "  Essays  "  to  the 
Publication  of  "  Astree  " 

1580-1588  *  to  1608 

I.— Bernard  Palissy  [Paris,  1510 ;  f  1590,  Agen] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Bernard  Palissy,  Discours  admirables  de  I" art 
de  terre,  edit.  B.  Fillon,  vol.  ii.,  p.  206  and  fol. ;  Lamartine  in  the 
Civilisateur,   July,    1852 ; — Haag,   La    France    Proiestante,   article 
PALISSY,    1857 ; — Louis  Audiat,   Bernard  Palissy,  Paris,    1863   and 
1868  ; — A.  Jacquemart,  Les  Merveilles  de  la  ceramique,  vol.  ii.,  Paris, 
1868 ; — Louis  Audiat,  Palissy,  sa  vie  et  ses  ceuvres,  preceding  Fillon's 
edition,  Niort,  1888  ; — Ernest  Dupuy,  Bernard  Palissy,  Paris,  1891. 

2.  THE  ARTIST,  THE  WRITER,  AND  THE  MAN  OF  SCIENCE. — Of  some 
extravagant  eulogies  that  have  been  made  of  B.  Palissy  [Cf.  the  article 
alluded  to   by   Lamartine,   and    Henri    Martin  in    his    Histoire  dc 
France]  ; — and  that  the  masterpieces  of  the  potter's  art  do  not  de- 

*  I  note  here,  without  further  delay,  that  the  edition  of  the  Essais  (Montaigne) 
dated  1580  only  contains  the  two  first  books  of  the  work,  to  which  the  third  was 
added  for  the  first  time  in  the  edition  in  4to  dated  1588. 


THE   FOKMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  81 

in  a  body  to  the  Latin  tradition  after  the  brief  and  poetic 
enthusiasm  for  Greek  by  which  they  had  been  carried 
away  for  a  moment. 

Simultaneously,  they  feel  the  need  of  putting  the 
solidity,  gravity,  and  dignity  of  their  matter  on  a  level 
with  the  perfection  of  manner  which  they  esteem  they 
have  achieved  [Cf.  Estienne  Pasquier,  Recherckes  de  la 
France,  book  vii.,  chap.  8,  9  and  10].  I  see  curious 
evidence  of  this  desire,  in  the  nai've  and  pedantic  coquetry 
with  which  they  resort  to  inverted  commas  "  .  .  .  .  "  to 
draw  the  reader's  attention  every  time  they  express  a 
general  idea.  The  result  is  that  while  the  Italians  are 
already  going  astray  prior  to  losing  themselves  entirely, 
as  they  will  soon  do,  amid  the  subtilties  of  alexandrinism 
and  become — according  to  the  expression  of  one  of  the 
best  historians  of  their  literature  [Cf.  Francesco  de  Sanctis, 

serve  so  much  enthusiasm ; — there  may  be  infinite  art  in  them,  but 
there  is  no  great  art  where  there  is  no  great  intention  ; — and  there  is 
nothing  of  the  sort  in  a  pot. — Literary  interest  of  the  distinction. — 
Life  and  adventures  of  Bernard  Palissy. — The  famous  passage  in  the 
Art  de  Terre  [Fillon's  edition,  ii.,  206  and  fol.]  ; — and  that  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  declamation  in  it  [Cf.  Benvenuto  Cellini  in  his  Memoirs]  ; 
— but  it  is  sincere  "  declamation  "  or  declamation  of  which  its  author 
is  himself  the  dupe  ; — and  in  this  connection  of  Palissy  as  a  writer. 

That  his  self-opinionatedness  is  due  to  his  ignorance  ; — and  in  this 
connection  of  a  form  of  vanity  peculiar  to  the  self-taught. — The 
dedication  of  the  Discours  admirables  to  the  Seigneur  de  Pons. — 
Palissy 's  work  bears  witness  to  the  state  of  mind  of  a  "  poor  artisan  " 
of  his  time. — It  is  this  that  constitutes  its  singularity,  originality  and 
naturalness. — His  talent  as  a  tale-teller  [Les  ammonites  de  Marennes, 
ed.  Fillon,  L,  48,  49  ; — the  Debat  des  outils  d' agriculture,  i.,  106,  107. 
— The  allegory  Essay  de  la  teste  des  hommes,  i.,  108  and  fol] . — His 
sentiment  of  nature. — In  his  writings,  as  in  his  enamels,  Palissy  is  one 
of  those  artists  whose  characters  are  not  merely  lifelike,  but  lifelike  to 
an  extraordinary  degree. — The  observer  and  the  experimenter. 

Should  he  be  regarded  as  a  "  man  of  science  "  ? — For  what  reasons 
he  cannot  have  had  anything  more  than  presentiments. — Testimony  of 

7 


82  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

Storia  della  Lett,  italiana,  vol.  ii.,  chap,  ii.],  almost  "  in- 
different to  the  subject  matter,"  whose  form  alone  is 
capable  of  appealing  to  their  senses,  it  is  precisely  with 
the  "subject  matter"  or  the  essence  of  things  that  our 
writers  are  concerned ;  and  it  is  to  what  they  see,  or 
think  they  see,  to  be  the  most  durable  and  the  most 
universal  side  of  things  that  they  endeavour  to  give 
expression.  This  liking  for  general  ideas,  or  liking  as  it 
will  shortly  be  called  for  the  reduction  to  the  Universal, 
is  a  second  trait  of  the  classic  ideal  that  is  beginning  to 
take  shape. 

We  touch  here  upon  the  explanation  of  the  prodigious 
success  of  Amyot  and  his  translations.  His  Plutarch  is 
only  a  rhetorician ;  but  this  rhetorician  has  composed 
biographies  which  are  perhaps  the  most  interesting  we 
know  ;  and  given  the  manner  in  which  Amyot  has  trans- 

Cuvier  [Histoire  des  sciences  naturelles]  and  of  Isidore  Geoffrey- Saint- 
Hilaire  [Histoire  des  regnes  organiques] .  —  His  attacks  on  the 
Alchemists. — Importance  of  the  form  he  has  given  his  work  [Dia- 
logues between  a  Theorist,  or  the  a  priori  idea,  and  a  Practical  Man, 
or  experience] . — It  does  not  seem,  however,  that  he  made  any 
important  discovery ; — or  laid  down  any  principle  in  the  sphere  of 
method ; — or  formed  a  single  disciple. — That  his  great  merit  lies  in  his 
having  emancipated  himself  from  the  servitude  of  the  ancients  general 
in  his  time. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Recette  veritable,  "  true  recipe  "  by  which  all  the 
men  of  France  may  learn  to  multiply  and  augment  their  treasures  ; 
1563, — and  Discours  admiralties  de  la  nature  des  eaux  et  des 
fontaines  ;  1580. 

The  best  edition  of  Palissy's  Works  is  that  of  M.  Benjamin  Fillon 
Niort,  1888,  Clouzot. 

II. — Francois  de  la  Noue  [Fresnay-en-Retz  (Loire-Inferieure) 
1531  -f-  1591,  Moncontour  (C6tes-du-Nord)] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — La  Noue  himself  in  his  Memoires  ; — Brantome 
in  his  Hommes  illustres ; — Moise  Amyrault,  Vie  de  Franqois  seigneur 
de  la  Noue,  1661  ; — Albert  Desjardins,  Les  moralistes  frangais  au 


THE    FORMATION   OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  83 

lated  them,  it  would  be  impossible  to  imagine  more 
instructive  object  lessons.  "If  we  feel  a  singular 
pleasure  in  listening  to  those  who  return  from  a  distant 
journey,  when  they  relate  the  things  they  have  seen  in 
strange  countries,  the  manners  of  the  inhabitants,  the 
nature  of  the  localities  .  .  .  and  if  we  are  sometimes  so 
joyous  and  enraptured  that  we  do  not  perceive  the  pass- 
ing of  the  hours  as  we  hearken  to  the  discourse  of  a 
wise,  fluent,  and  eloquent  old  man,  when  he  is  telling 
the  adventures  of  his  years  of  youth  and  vigour  .  .  . 
how  much  greater  should  be  the  pleasure  and  rapture  we 
should  feel  at  seeing  human  examples  vividly  represented 
in  a  comely,  vivid,  and  truthful  picture."  Thus  he 
expresses  himself  in  the  preface  to  his  Vies  paralleles ; 
and  it  would  be  impossible  to  state  more  aptly  the  nature 
of  the  teachings,  or,  as  we  should  say  to-day,  of  the 

XVI"  sieclc,  Paris,  1870; — H.  Hauser,  Francois  dc  la  None,  Paris, 
1892. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — As  was  Bodin,  as  was  Palissy,  he 
too  is  an  "observer,"  though  of  a  different  kind. — His  military  career ; 
— but  his  sobriquet  of  "  Iron- Arm  "  must  not  be  taken  as  evidence  of 
his  energy ; — and  that  besides  being  a  soldier  he  was  something  of  a 
politician. — The  scruples  of  conscience  of  a  Protestant  captain  ; — com- 
parison between  Montluc  and  De  la  Noue ; — moral  superiority  of  the 
latter. — His  Discours politiques  et  militaires.—H.e  composed  this  work 
in  prison. — Curious  points  of  contact  between  Bodin,  Palissy,  and 
La  Noue. — Classification  of  La  Noue's  discourses  :  Strictly  Military 
Discourses  [11,  13, 14,  15, 16, 17,  18] ; — compare  the  manner  in  which 
he  writes  of  war  with  a  famous  passage  in  the  Soirees  de  Saint- 
Petersbourg. — Political  Discourses  [1,  4,  6,  12,  20,  21,  22] ; — compare 
the  political  views  of  La  Noue  with  the  "  great  plan  "  of  Henry  IV. — 
But  of  most  interest  as  regards  the  history  of  ideas  are  his  Moral 
Discourses  [3,  5,  6,  7,  10,  19,  23,  24,  25]  and  among  them  Discourse 
23  on  the  philosopher's  stone  ;  6  against  the  Amadis ;  and  24  against 
the  Epicureans ; — La  Noue  a  predecessor  of  Bossuet  [Maxims  on 
comedy]  in  his  Discourse  against  the  Amadis ; — and  of  Rousseau  in 
his  Discourse  against  the  Epicureans. — This  amounts  to  saying  that 


84     MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

"  documents,"  relating  to  man  contained  by  his  Vies. 
In  strict  truth  the  influence  of  Amyot  has  not  been  com- 
mendable in  every  respect ;  and  if  it  be  indeed  his  Plu- 
tarque  that  may  be  said  to  have  imbued  us  with  that  vague 
ideal  of  heroism  of  the  Greek  or  Roman  pattern,  which 
will  become  the  ideal  of  our  classic  tragedy  ;  if  it  be  in- 
deed his  Agesilauses  and  his  Timoleons,  his  Coriolanuses 
and  his  Mariuses,  that  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  at 
a  stretch  will  be  the  subject  of  French  drama,  or  rather 
will  encumber  French  drama  without  always  providing 
it  with  adequate  subjects ; — then  it  is  allowable  to  regret 
his  influence.  How  would  things  stand  after  this  if  we 
were  to  enumerate  here  all  our  painters,  from.  Poussin 
to  David,  who  have  borrowed  off  him?  And  are  we 
to  be  asked  to  be  grateful  to  him  for  that  ideal  of  a 
false,  sentimental,  and  declamatory  virtue  of  which  his 

he  is  above  everything  else  a  "moralist." — The  composition  of  La 
Noue's  Discours ; — their  oratorical  turn  ; — their  vigour  of  language 
and  style  ; — their  impassionate  patriotism. — Success  of  the  Discours. 
— A  few  words  as  to  La  Noue's  Memoircs. — His  death  at  the  siege  of 
Lamballe. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Discours politiques  et  militaires  du  sieur  Francois 
de  la  None  ;  Bale,  1587,  Frai^ois  Forest. 

There  are  no  modern  reprints  of  his  works,  and  the  most  recent 
editions  date  from  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  ;  but 
sundry  of  La  Noue's  Letters  are  to  be  found  in  a  certain  number  of 
historical  publications. 

III.  Guillaume  de  Saluste,  Seigneur  of  Bartas  [Montfort 

(Gers)  1544;  f  1590,  Montfort]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — J.  de  Thou,  in  his  Histoire,  book  99 ; — Goujet,  in 
his  Bibliotheque  francaise,  vol.  xiii.  ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Poesie  frang aise 
au  XVI"  siecle ;  and  Revue   des   Deux  Mondes,  February,  1842; — 
Poirson,  Histoire  litteraire  du  Regne  d 'Henri  IV.,  vol.  iv.,  2nd  edition, 
1867 ; — G.  Pellissier,  La  vie  et  les  ceuvres  de  du  Bartas,  Paris,  1882. 

2.  THE  POET. — His  Protestant  education ; — and  that  while  profiting 
by  the  example  of  Ronsard,  he  goes  back  beyond  him,  and  must  be 


THE    FOEMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  85 

Lycurguses  and  his  Philopoemens,  his  Catos  and  his 
Brutuses,  have  offered  the  model  to  our  publicists  or 
to  the  members  of  our  revolutionary  assemblies?  [Cf. 
J.  J.  Rousseau,  in  his  Confessions ;  and  Mme  Roland  in 
her  Memoires  and  in  her  Correspondance.~\  On  the  other 
hand,  however,  it  is  unquestionably  in  his  Vies  paralleles 
that  the  great  figures  of  that  antiquity  which  previous 
to  him  had  been  shrouded  in  a  sort  of  mythological  or 
legendary  mist,  assumed  what  seems  to  be  an  air  of 
reality  and  life.  Whether  they  resemble  the  originals 
or  not, — this  is  not  the  point, — his  personages  are  sub- 
stantial, have  ceased  to  be  vain  phantoms ;  it  seems  that 
one  touches  them  with  the  finger.  Indeed  his  own  expres- 
sion deserves  to  be  retained :  it  is  exact  that  he  offers  us 
human  examples  vividly  represented,  whose  description  has 
enriched  our  knowledge  of  humanity.  Absorbed  by  the 

connected  with  the  author  of  the  Miroir  de  Vdme  pecliercsse. — The 
court  of  Jeanne  d'Albret. — Popularity  of  Du  Bartas  among  the  Protes- 
tant community  ; — Goethe's  estimate  of  him  [Complete  Works,  Cotta, 
1868,  Stuttgart,  vol.  xxv.,  p.  261]. — His  avowed  intention  of  combat- 
ting the  current  Paganism  of  the  time. — The  Premiere  Sepmaine,  1579, 
and  the  Seconde,  1584. — The  Premiere  has  for  theme  the  adoration  of 
God  in  the  marvels  of  nature ; — the  Seconde  is  a  sort  of  universal 
history. — The  descriptive  and  oratorical  passages  in  the  poems  of  Du 
Bartas.— Of  the  style  of  Du  Bartas  and  of  the  absence  of  art  that 
characterises  it. — That  together  with  Baif  he  is  responsible  for  the 
neglect  that  overtook  Ronsard. — Of  Du  Bartas  as  a  caricature  of 
Bonsard. — Unavailing  efforts  of  the  critics  to  restore  him  to  favour. — 
It  is  very  difficult  to  account  for  his  influence,  but  his  work  was  very 
popular  in  his  time. — Explanation  of  this  peculiarity. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — La  Muse  Chretienne,  1574,  containing  the 
Triomphe  de  la  foi,  Judith  and  Uranie; — La  Sepmaine  ou  creation 
du  monde,  1578 ; — La  seconde  sepmaine  ou  enfance  du  monde,  1584, 
comprising  1st  Day  (1)  Eden ;  (2)  The  Imposture ;  (3)  The  Furies ; 
(4)  The  Artifices  ;  and  2nd  Day  :  (1)  The  Ark  ;  (2)  Babylon  ;  (3)  The 
Colonies  ;  (4)  The  Columns. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  in  the  posthumous  edition  published  by 


86  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

interest  of  the  narrative,  we  compare  his  Lycurgus  or  his 
Sylla  with  ourselves  rather  than  with  each  other,  and 
without  perceiving  what  we  are  about.  An  unconscious 
comparison  is  instituted,  of  which  the  effect,  if  it  be 
on  the  one  hand  to  abolish  the  historical  sense  in 
us, — I  mean  the  sense  of  the  diversity  of  epochs — 
is  on  the  other  hand  to  teach  us  the  essential  identity 
of  human  nature.  None  before  Amyot  had  brought 
this  truth  into  sight ;  and  if  it  should  be  thought 
surprising  that  a  mere  translator  should  occupy  so 
considerable  a  place  in  the  literary  history  of  his  time, 
let  it  be  remembered  that  his  "  comely,  vivid,  and 
truthful  pictures  "  awakened  the  vocation  of  Michel  de 
Montaigne. 

For  whence  comes  the  interest  we  take  in  all  these 
personages,  and  what  is  its  true  nature?  Montaigne 

Haultin  at  La  Rochelle,  1590,  1591,  are  found :  The  Fathers,  and  the 
History  of  Jonas,  fragments  of  the  3rd  Day ;  The  Tropliies,  the 
first  part  of  the  4th  Day  ;  the  Magnificence  ;  and  a  translation  in 
verse  of  the  Lepanthe  de  Jacques  VI.,  roi  d'Ecosse.  The  edition  also 
contains  the  C antique  de  la  victoire  d'lvry. 

IV.  Michel  Eyquem,  Seigneur  de  Montaigne  [Chateau  of 
Montaigne,  near  Bergerac,  1538  ;  f  1592,  in  the  same  place]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Above  all  the  Essays  themselves  ; — Dr.  Payen, 
Documents  inedits  sur  Montaigne,  1847-1855-1857-1862,  and  Notice 
sur  La  Boetie,  1853 ; — Feuillet  de  Conches,  Causer ies  d'un  curieux, 
vol.  iii.,  Paris,  1862  ; — A.  Griin,  La  vie  publique  de  Montaigne,  Paris, 
1855  ; — Th.  Malvezin,  Michel  de  Montaigne,  Bordeaux,  1875  ; — Paul 
Bonnefon,  Montaigne,  I'homme  et  Vceuvre,  Paris,  1893  ;  and  Mon- 
taigne et  ses  amis,  Paris,  1898 ; — Paul  Stapfer,  Montaigne  in  the 
series  of  Grands  Ecrivains,  Paris,  1895,  and  La  famille  de  Mon- 
taigne, Paris,  1896  ; — Villemain,  Eloge  de  Montaigne,  1812  ; — J. 
V.  Le  Clerc,  Discours  sur  la  vie  et  Ies  ouvrages  de  Montaigne  pre- 
ceding his  edition  of  Montaigne's  Works  ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Port- 
Royal,  vol.  ii.,  book  iii.,  chap.  ii.  and  iii. ; — Vinet,  Moralistes 
francais  du  XVIs  et  du  XVII1'  siecle,  Paris,  1859. — Gust.  Allais,  Les 


THE    FOKMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  87 

will  tell  us  :  it  is  "  that  every  man  carries  in  his  own 
person  the  model  of  the  human  condition." 

Human!  generis  mores  tibi  nosse  volenti, 
Sufficit  una  domus  . . . 

The  lines  are  Juvenal's,  and  without  a  doubt  Montaigne 
is  sufficiently  nourished  on  Latin,  his  book  is  suffi- 
ciently that  of  a  "humanist,"  or  even  it  may  be  of  a 
pedant,  for  one  to  suspect  him  of  having  borrowed  the 
aphorism  from  the  Latin  satirist.  This  great  reader  is 
a  great  pilferer,  and  he  has  not  always  indicated  his 
larcenies,  as  if  he  feared  in  truth  that  were  he  to  have 
done  so  there  would  remain  nothing  of  his  entire  book. 
A  very  useless  precaution,  but  an  almost  vainer  fear ! 
Were  the  Essais  only  a  collection  or,  if  I  may  risk  the 
expression,  a  string,  a  chaplet  of  quotations,  that  would 

Essais  de  Montaigne,  Paris,  1887 ; — D.  Motheau,  Notice  sur  Mon- 
taigne, introduction  to  his  edition  of  Montaigne's  Works,  Paris,  1886  ; 
— E.  Faquet  XVIe  Siecle ; — Eug.  Voizard,  Etude  sur  la  langue  de 
Montaigne,  Paris,  1885. 

(2)  THE  LIFE  OF  MONTAIGNE. —  The  origin  of  the  Eyquem  family 
and  Montaigne's  pretensions  to  nobility. — His  studies  at  the  college 
of  Guyenne. — He  is  appointed  Councillor  of  the  Court  of  Aides  at 
Perigueux  in  1557 ; — and  councillor  to  the  Bordeaux  Parliament  in 
1561. — His  friendship  with  Estienne  de  la  Boetie; — and  in  this  con- 
nection of  the  Contr'un  or  Discours  sur  la  servitude  volontaire,  which 
is  nothing  but  purely  rhetorical  declamation. — Death  of  La  Boetie, 
1563. — Montaigne's  marriage,  1565. — Death  of  his  father,  1568. — In 
1569  Montaigne  publishes  his  translation  of  Raymond  Sebon's  Natural 
Theology.— Of.  Raymond  Sebon  and  his  Natural  Theology ; — and  he 
must  not  be  confused  with  another  Spaniard,  Raymond  Martin,  the 
author  of  the  Pugio  Fidei. — In  1570  Montaigne  abandons  law  for  the 
army ; — but  he  does  not  see  any  fighting. — In  1580  he  publishes  the 
first  edition  of  his  Essays.  Montaigne's  travels  [June  22,  1580- 
November  30,  1581].  He  is  made  mayor  of  Bordeaux  in  1581. — The 
plague  of  Bordeaux,  and  that  Montaigne's  conduct  during  it  was  the 
reverse  of  heroic. — He  ceases  to  be  mayor  in  1585,  and  publishes  in 


88  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

not  prevent  them  being  all  that  they  are  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  literature  :  the  first  book  in  which  a  man 
formed  the  project  of  depicting  himself,  considering 
himself  as  an  example  of  average  humanity,  and  of 
enriching  the  natural  history  of  humanity  with  the 
discoveries  he  made  in  his  own  person.  "  Every  one 
looks  beyond  himself,  I  look  within  myself,  I  am  only 
concerned  with  myself,  I  reflect  on  myself,  I  examine 
myself,  I  take  pleasure  in  myself.  .  .  .  Others  are  always 
harking  elsewhere  .  .  . 

Nemo  in  se  tentat  descendere  ; 

for  my  part  I  wrap  myself  up  in  myself."  And  by  the 
comparison  I  make  between  others  and  myself,  he  might 
add,  I  not  only  know  myself,  I  know  others  as  well ;  I 
procure  myself  some  notion  of  that  general  and  common 

1588  the  real  second  edition  of  his  Essays. — His  relations  with  Henri 
IV. — His  last  years. — He  dies  September  13,  1592,  leaving  to  his 
wife  and  his  adopted  daughter,  Mile  le  Jars  de  Gournay,  the  task  of 
issuing  the  definite  edition  of  the  Essays,  which  is  that  of  1595. 

(3)  COMPOSITION  AND  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ESSAYS. 

A.  The  composition  of  the  book. — A  remark  of  Prevost-Paradol 
[Cf.  Moralistes  francais~\  on  Montaigne's  quotations  and  the  impossi- 
bility of  separating  them  from  the  context. — But  he  has  forgotten 
that  the  edition  of  1595  contained  more  than  "  six  hundred  "  additions 
to  the  text  of  1588 ; — and,  from  a  general  point  of  view,  that  the 
distinctive  character  of  the  Essays  is  precisely  their  successive  com- 
position.— It  is  probable  that  the  project  of  writing  his  Essays  did 
not  occur  to  Montaigne  earlier  than  1572  [Cf.  book  i.  chap.  xx.].  The 
edition  of  1580 ; — and  why  good  judges  are  of  opinion  that  this  edition 
is  the  truest  reflection  of  Montaigne's  individuality; — it  contains  fewer 
quotations,  and  presents  in  consequence  a  less  pedantic  appearance ; — 
the  arguments,  being  interrupted  by  fewer  digressions,  are  easier  to 
follow  in  it ; — and  there  is  something  livelier  about  its  general  tone 
and  style. — Comparison  between  the  chapter  on  the  Education  of 
Children  in  the  first  and  second  editions. — The  way  in  which  Mon- 
taigne's text  is  added  to  and  often  becomes  overloaded  in  consequence 


THE   FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  89 

humanity  of  which  I  form  part  with  them,  and  to  which 
they  belong  as  I  do. 

Informed  of  the  intentions  of  the  author  of  the  Essais, 
let  us  now  picture  him  in  his  library  in  converse  with  his 
favourite  authors.  He  has  been  reading  his  Tusculanes, 
and  has  been  struck  by  a  sentence  or  a  saying  of  Cicero  ; 
he  then  remembers  having  read  something  similar  in 
Seneca's  Letters  to  Lucilius ;  he  refers  to  the  passage  ; 
and  he  proceeds  to  compare  Cicero  with  Seneca,  and 
both  of  them  with  his  own  experience,  which  sometimes 
confirms  theirs  and  sometimes  contradicts  it.  Or  it  may 
be  that,  reversing  the  process,  having  first  observed  the 
effects  of  pain  or  passion  on  himself,  it  happens  that  in 
searching  his  Plutarch  or  his  Tacitus  he  finds  corrobo- 
ration  of  his  own  experience ;  and  he  is  surprised  and 
pleased  to  see  that  Cicero,  for  instance,  or  Agricola  have 

of  his  wide  and  varied  reading ; — that  Montaigne  rarely  deletes  but  is 
always  making  corrections ; — and  that  he  is  much  given  to  making 
additions. — Comparison  between  the  Apology  for  Raymond  Sebon 
in  the  editions  of  1580  and  1588 ; — entire  absence  of  plan  and  com- 
position.— The  scruples  of  the  stylist. — To  what  extent  the  additions 
made  in  the  edition  of  1585  ought  to  be  adopted. 

B.  The  inspiration  of  the  book. — The  chapter :  "  To  study  philo- 
sophy is  to  learn  how  to  die"; — and  that  the  chief  concern  of 
Montaigne's  life  was  to  overcome  his  horror  of  death. — This  pre- 
occupation explains :  his  curiosity  with  regard  to  himself; — differences 
in  manners  and  customs ; — and  history. — His  Epicureanism,  which 
has  sometimes  been  termed  his  Christianity,  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
same  cause ; — Christianity  being,  in  fact,  merely  a  preparation  for 
death ; — but  in  reality  there  was  nothing  of  the  Christian  about 
Montaigne. — How  his  preoccupation  with  death  explains  the  depth 
and  the  fund  of  human  feeling  of  his  philosophy ; — a  remark  of 
Schopenhauer  [The  World  as  Will  and  Idea,  iii.  chap.  xli.]. — It  is  on 
this  head  that  Montaigne  is  distinguished  from  Rabelais. — There  is 
something  morbidly  keen  and  in  a  certain  sense  something  pessimistic 
about  his  curiosity. — This  is  just  the  characteristic  too  that  gives  the 
Essays  their  singular  value : — they  are  a  confession ; — the  effort  of  a 


90  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

experienced  before  him  what  he  has  just  perceived  and 
noticed  in  his  own  person.  In  this  way  each  successive 
edition  of  his  book  is  augmented,  enriched,  and  diversi- 
fied with  the  material  he  lights  on  in  his  daily  observa- 
tions or  in  the  course  of  his  reading.  It  is  in  this 
way,  too,  that  his  pilferings  reveal  to  us  the  very  man 
himself,  and  that  as  he  becomes  a  more  critical  reader 
and  as  his  experience  widens  he  perceives,  and  we  per- 
ceive with  him,  that  his  nature  is  always  his  own, — but  it 
is  my  nature  and  yours  as  well. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that,  whereas  "  authors  appeal  to 
the  public  in  virtue  of  some  special  and  distinguishing 
quality,"  he  is  the  first  author  to  base  his  appeal  on  the 
characteristics  he  has  in  common  with  all  humanity,  to 
present  himself  "  as  Michel  de  Montaigne,  not  as  a  gram- 


man  to  make  the  knowledge  of  himself  the  basis  of  a  knowledge  of  the 
human  race ; — and  an  attempt  to  deduce  a  rule  of  conduct  from  this 
knowledge. — That  the  Essays  are  a  melancholy  book. 

C.  Montaigne's  style. — The  way  in  which  this  melancholy  is  masked 
by  the  charm  of  the  style. — What  did  Montesquieu  mean  when  he 
called  Montaigne  "  one  of  the  four  great  poets"  ? — Montaigne's  style 
is  a  "perpetual  creation." — The  metaphors  of  Shakespeare  himself 
are  not  more  numerous,  more  natural,  or  fresher ; — and  in  this  con- 
nection of  the  metaphor  as  a  cause  and  mode  of  the  "  fructification  of 
languages." — Universality  of  Montaigne's  vocabulary. — Sainte-Beuve's 
judgment  on  Montaigne's  style  [Cf.  Port-Boyal,  ii.  p.  443,  450,  edition 
of  1878]. — Moreover  it  is  Montaigne's  style  that  atones  for  what  would 
otherwise  be  the  impertinence  of  his  constant  talk  of  himself. — Strange 
details  furnished  by  Montaigne  about  himself. — But  by  the  way  in 
which  he  relates  them,  he  contrives  to  express  what  is  human  about 
them,  as  much  as  or  more  than  what  is  individual  and  singular. 

(4)  INFLUENCE  AND  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  ESSAYS. — That "  every  man 
carries  in  his  own  person  the  model  of  the  human  condition  "  ; — and 
a  comparison  in  this  connection  between  Montaigne's  Essays  and 
Rousseau's  Confessions ; — the  points  of  resemblance  are  external,  but 
the  differences  relate  to  essentials. — Montaigne  made  moral  and 
psychological  observation  the  basis  of  French  literature.  —  His 


THE    FORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  91 

marian,  poet,  or  jurist."  What  is  to  prevent  him  adopting 
this  course  ?  "Is  not  all  philosophy  contained  in  a  humble 
and  private  life  as  well  as  in  a  life  on  more  spacious 
lines  ?  "  Is  it  necessary  to  be  Aristides  to  have  known  the 
ingratitude  of  men  ?  Alexander  or  Caesar  to  have  experi- 
enced the  inconstancy  of  fortune  ?  And  thereupon  he 
adds  :  "  If  people  complain  that  I  talk  too  much  about 
myself,  my  complaint  is  that  they  do  not  even  think 
about  themselves."  We  are  ignorant  of  our  own  nature; 
and  we  hide  or  disguise  our  ignorance  beneath  the  raillery 
we  mete  out  to  those  who  study  in  their  own  persons 
what  is  in  fact  the  history  of  humanity  ! 

Shall  I  insist  further,  or  is  not  the  consequence  clear 
as  it  is  ?  Instead  of  plodding,  as  they  had  done  hitherto, 
in  the  footsteps  of  the  ancients,  instead  of  trying  to  pass 


influence  abroad :  —  on  Bacon  [Cf .  his  Essays,  1597] ;  —  and  on 
Shakespeare  [Cf.  Philarete  Chasles,  Etudes  sur  Shakespeare,  Paris, 
s.d.]. — Shakespeare's  numerous  borrowings  from  Montaigne  [Id.  ibid.] , 
— That  in  this  respect  Montaigne  returns  to  the  tradition  of  the  Euro- 
pean influence  of  French  literature. — Certain  matter  in  the  Essays  of  a 
nature  bound  to  be  displeasing  to  another  generation. — Testimony  of 
Balzac  [eighteenth  Conversation]  ; — of  Pascal  [Pensees]  ; — of  Bossuet 
[second  sermon  for  All  Saints'  Day]  ; — of  Malebranche  [Recherche  de 
la  Verite,  ii.,  p.  3,  ch.  v.]. 

5.  THE  WORKS. — Neglecting  his  translation  of  the  Theologie  natu- 
relle  de  Raymond,  Sebon,  1569 ; — and  the  Journal  de  ses  Voyages, 
which  was  first  published  in  1774 ; — Montaigne's  works  are  confined  to 
his  Essays,  of  which  it  will  suffice  to  note  here  the  principal  editions. 

The  Essais,  1st,  2nd,  and  3rd  editions,  1580,  1582,  and  1587  [MM. 
Dezeirneris  and  Barkhausen's  edition,  Bordeaux,  1874,  is  an  exact 
reproduction  of  the  text  of  the  1st  edition,  and  gives  in  addition  the 
different  readings  of  the  2nd  and  3rd  editions]  ; — The  Essais,  4th 
edition,  1  vol.  in  4to,  1588,  Abel  1'Angelier  [reprinted  in  Motheau- 
Jouaust's  edition,  7  vols.  in  18mo,  Paris,  1872,  1875,  Jouaust]  ; — The 
Essais,  5th  edition,  1  vol.  in  folio,  1595,  Abel  1'Angelier  and  Michel 
Sonnius  [reprinted  in  Courbet  and  Boyer's  edition,  4  vols.  in  8vo, 
Paris,  1872-1877,  A.  Lemerre] . 


92  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

for,  say,  a  Pindar  or  a  Petrarch,  our  writers  know  for 
the  future  that  they  can  find  in  themselves  the  material 
to  put  into  and,  as  it  were,  sustain  the  literary  forms 
of  which  they  had  previously  done  little  more  than 
imitate  the  outline.  They  will  probe  their  own  being. 
Should  they  fail  to  discover  in  it  the  reasons  for  self- 
satisfaction,  a  like  inquiry  afforded  this  Epicurean,  their 
effort  will  not  have  been  wholly  vain,  for  its  outcome 
will  be  the  increase  of  the  common  treasure  of  humanity. 
And  finally,  since  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances 
man's  most  interesting,  instructive,  and  useful  subject  of 
study  is  man,  we  find  literature  is  based  henceforth  on 
moral  and  psychological  observation. 

At  the  same  time,  the  condition  is  enforced  that  a  code 
superior  to  that  of  nature  shall  serve  as  guide,  or,  as  it 


We  may  also  cite  P.  Coste's  edition  (it  is  P.  Coste  who  is  related  to 
have  blushed  when  Montaigne  was  mentioned  in  his  presence) ,  3  vols. 
in  4to,  London,  1724,  to  which  is  adjoined  in  the  same  format  a 
volume  containing  the  Voyages ;  Naigeon's  edition,  4  vols.  in  8vo, 
Paris,  1802,  Didot ;  — and  J.  V.  Leclerc's  edition,  5  vols.  in  8vo,  Paris, 
1826,  Lefevre. — This  is  the  edition  that  has  become  the  standard 
source  of  Montaigne's  text. 

V.— The  Satire  Menippee  [1593-1594] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Almost  all  the  more  special  documents  necessary 
to  or  useful  for  the  understanding  of  the  Satire  Menippee  have  been 
collected  in  the  Ratisbon  edition,  edited  by  Prosper  Marchand,  3  vols. 
in  12mo,  1726,  and  published  by  the  successors  of  Mathias  Kerner. — In 
addition   there   is   Charles  Labitte's  introduction  to  his   edition  of 
the  Satire,  Paris,  n.d. ; — and  Les  Predicateurs  de  la  Ligue,  Paris, 
1841,  by  the  same  writer. 

2.  THE  PAMPHLET  ; — and  that   neither  its  merit,   which   is   quite 
second-rate,   nor  its   audacity,   nor    its    consequences   ought  to   be 
exaggerated. — It  cannot   be  said  that  the  Satire  "gave   France  to 
Henri  IV.,"  since  ifc  was  published  in  1594,  and  the  civil  war  did  not 
end  until  1598 ; — there  is  no  audacity  :  (1)  in  five  writers  producing 
a  book  between  them,  since  it  is  well  known  that  it  is  precisely  on 


THE   FORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  93 

were,  as  a  law  to  this  observation  of  ourselves.  We  are 
to  study  nature  in  our  own  persons,  but  it  will  be  with  a 
view  to  its  discipline.  On  this  point  both  Catholics  and 
Protestants  will  be  quick  to  agree,  and  here,  if  we  may 
venture  on  the  expression,  we  have  the  net  profit  of  the 
Reformation  and  the  wars  of  religion.  As  we  have  said, 
France  had  shrunk  from  the  gloomy  and  hopeless  morality 
of  Calvin.  His  teaching,  however,  had  one  result :  it  left 
men  convinced  of  the  utility,  the  necessity,  and  even  the 
urgency  of  fighting  against  the  growing  licentiousness  of 
morals.  Bead  in  this  connection  La  Noue's  Discours 
politiques  et  militaires ;  Charron's  Sagesse  and  his  Trois 
Verites ;  or  again  Du  Vair's  Philosophic  stoique.  By 
\  different  roads,  all  these  writings,  varied  as  are  their 
\>  origin  and  characteristics,  verge  towards  two  or  three 

the  division  of  risks  that  the  principle  of  insurance  is  based ; — 
(2)  further,  there  is  no  audacity  in  remaining  anonymous ; — and  (3) 
in  having  published  a  pamphlet  of  this  nature  nine  months  after 
the  conversion  and  three  months  after  the  re-entry  into  Paris  of 
Henri  IV. — The  bravery  of  the  authors  wholly  consists  in  conse- 
quence of  having  egregiously  insulted  men  already  vanquished, 
and  in  whose  overthrow,  moreover,  they  had  had  no  hand. — The 
authors  of  the  Menippec :  Pierre  le  Boy,  Gillot,  Nicolas  Rapin,  Jean 
Passerat,  Florent  Chrestien,  and  Pierre  Pithou ; — and  that  working 
together  they  have  not  displayed  a  talent  that  none  of  them  possessed 
individually. — There  is,  however,  a  certain  vigour  of  caricature  in  some 
'  passages  of  the  Satire ; — of  satire  even ; — and  almost  of  eloquence  [Cf. 
the  oft-quoted  "  Harangue"  of  the  civic  lieutenant,  Dreux  d'Aubray]. 
— But  there  is  not  a  trace  of  elevation  or  nobleness  of  feeling  in  "the 
V  work ; — the  writers  are  middle-class  citizens  infuriated  at  finding  their 
*  pleasures  interfered  with ; — they  are  also  pronounced  enemies  of  the 
Jesuits  ; — and  they  doubtless  loved  their  country ; — but  nevertheless 
the  Satire  Menippee  must  not  be  numbered  among  the  "  great  monu- 
ments of  the  French  genius." 

VI.— Pierre  Charron  [Paris,  1541 ;  f  1603,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Bayle,  in  his  Dictionnaire,  article  CHABRON; — 


94  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  FEENCH  LITEEATUEE 

common  ends :  the  first  of  which  is  to  restore  to  the 
morality  of  all  time  at  least  something  of  its  former 
authority ;  the  second  to  withdraw  the  French  genius 
from  foreign  influences,  which  are  looked  on  at  the 
period  far  less  as  hindrances  to  its  liberty  than  as  the 
causes  of  its  corruption ;  and  the  third  to  demand  of  the 
individual,  in  the  common  interest  of  society,  the  qualities 
or  the  virtues  which,  left  to  himself,  he  would  be  inclined 
to  spurn. 

Of  these  three  intentions,  the  first  is  specially  notice- 
able in  the  Discours  of  honest  La  Noue,  for  it  would  be 
difficult  to  display  greater  concern  than  this  soldier  does 
for  purity  of  morals,  the  education  of  the  young,  and  the 
future  of  his  country.  Identical  is  the  attitude  of 
Guillaume  du  Vair  in  his  "  Philosophy  of  the  Stoics," 


Franck,  Dictionnaire  des  sciences  2)hiloso2)hiques,  article  CHARRON  ; 
— Poirson,  Histoire  du  Regne  d'Henri  IV.  [see  above]  ; — Vinet, 
Moralistes  francaise  au  XVP  siecle. 

2.  THE  PHILOSOPHER. — Enigmatical  character  of  the  personage ; — 
he  had  been  a  priest ; — he  had  even  wished  to  enter  the  order  of  the 
Carthusian  monks  ; — there  were  pious  prelates  among  his  protectors  ; 
— yet  he  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  "  libertine," — and  the  con- 
tradiction that  seems  to  exist  between  his  personality  and  his  reputa- 
tion reappears  in  his  two  principal  works : — the  Traite  des  Trois  Verites 
("Treatise  on  the  Three  Truths"),  which  are:  (1)  that  there  is  a 
God ;  (2)  that  this  God  is  only  known  to  the  Christians  ;  (3)  that  this 
God  is  only  worshipped  as  he  should  be  worshipped  by  the  Roman 
Catholics ; — and  the  Traite  de  la  Sagesse,  which  has  generally  been 
looked  upon  as  merely  the  systematisation  of  Montaigne's  "  scep- 
ticism."— That  the  order  of  publication  of  the  works  does  not  remove 
the  difficulty,  seeing  that  he  was  acquainted  with  Montaigne  when  he 
issued  the  Traite  des  Trois  Verites. 

Examination  of  the  Traite  de  la  Sagesse. — Three  contemporary,  to 
say  nothing  of  ancient,  writers  are  copied  unscrupulously  in  the  work : 
Bodin  [Cf.  Sagesse,  ii.,  ch.  44]  ;  Montaigne  |_Cf.  ii.,  chap,  viii.]  ;  and 
G.  du  Vair  [Cf.  iii.,  chap,  xxviii.]. — Meaning  of  these  plagiarisms. — 
Charron's  object  is  to  make  a  synthesis  of  the  ideas  of  his  time; — as  is 


THE   FORMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  95 

a  work  whose  spirit  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  its  title. 
The  writer,  forestalling  Pascal,  already  aims  at  opposing 
Epictetus  to  Montaigne,  the  teaching  that  prescribes 
an  effort  of  the  will  to  Epicurean  indifference,  the  philo- 
sophy of  reason  to  that  of  Nature !  We  must  live 
in  accordance  with  Nature;  but  our  "nature"  is  deter- 
mined by  the  end  to  which  we  have  been  created ;  and 
"  the  end  of  man,  of  all  our  thoughts  and  all  our  actions, 
is  to  lead  a  good  life  "  ;  and  "  our  good  "  consists  merely 
in  "  the  right  use  of  reason,  that  is  to  say  in  virtue." 
How  different  already  is  this  teaching  from  that  of 
Kabelais,  or  even  of  Montaigne !  And,  admitting  that 
Du  Vair  is  here  only  paraphrasing  Epictetus,  the  choice 
of  Epictetus  as  guide  is  in  itself  a  symptom  of  impor- 
tance. Experience  has  demonstrated  the  necessity  of  a 

proved  by  the  attention  he  pays  to  composition,  a  preoccupation  that 
is  the  chief  originality  of  his  book. — The  three  central  ideas  of  the 
work  :  (1)  the  goodness  of  nature  [Cf.  ii.,  ch.  iii.] ; — and  yet  (2)  the  in- 
finite wretchedness  of  man  [Cf.  i.,  passim]  ; — which  should  breed  (3)  a 
sovereign  contempt  for  death  [Cf.  ii.,  ch.  ii.]. — Connection  Charron 
establishes  between  these  three  ideas  ; — his  confidence  in  human 
reason  ; — in  the  power  of  the  will ; — in  the  universality  of  moral  law. 

That  after  this  examination  we  are  disposed  to  regard  him  as  a 
"  transitional  type  "  ; — a  forerunner  of  Descartes, — and  of  Pascal, — as 
much  as  a  disciple  and  continuator  of  Montaigne. — Had  Descartes 
read  him  ? — In  any  case,  it  is  certain  that  Pascal  was  very  familiar 
with  his  works ;  —  and  in  this  connection  that  Pascal's  annotators 
have  been  too  neglectful  of  Charron. — It  is  generally  recognised  how 
easy,  and  at  the  same  time  how  difficult,  it  is  to  bridge  over  the  dis- 
tance between  Montaigne  and  Pascal  ; — but  in  reality  the  connecting 
link  is  afforded  by  Charron. — Moreover,  he  did  not  believe  that  it 
could  possibly  harm  religion  to  establish  its  authority  on  a  rational 
basis  ; — which  is  what  he  loyally  attempted  to  accomplish  ; — and  in 
this  way  his  contradictions  result  from  his  having  failed  to  grasp  the 
significance  of  certain  of  his  assertions. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Les  Trois  Verites  contre  les  athees,  idoldtres, 
juifs,  hdretiques  ct  schismatiques,  Bordeaux,  1593; — Discours 


96     MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

moral  directing  force.  The  crimes  of  Catherine,  the 
debauchery  of  Henri  III.,  the  corruption  of  the  court, 
have  filled  the  cup  to  overflowing.  There  must  be  an 
end  to  this  state  of  things  !  And  while  waiting  for  the 
movement  to  terminate  in  a  religious  revival,  an  effort  is 
made  to  establish  on  a  rational  basis,  to  secularise  or  to 
"  layicise,"  the  teachings  which  religion  had  inculcated  in 
the  past  solely  on  its  own  authority. 

To  attain  this  end,  our  writers  endeavour  at  the  same 
time  to  escape  from  the  pressure,  the  besetting  pressure, 
of  foreign  influences.  There  are  two  such  influences : 
first,  the  Italian,  which  during  the  long  reign  of  the 
mother  of  three  kings  has  spread  from  literature  to  the 
language,  and  from  the  language  to  manners ;  and  in  the 
second  place  the  Spanish  influence,  the  progress  of  which 

chretiens  de  la  Divinite,  Creation,  Redemjrtion,  Bordeaux,  1600; — 
Traite  dc  la  Sagesse,  Bordeaux,  1601. 

The  last  of  these  works  is  the  only  one  of  the  three  that  has  often 
been  reprinted. 

VII.— Guillaume  du  Vair  [Paris,  1556;  f  1621,  Tonneins]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Richelieu,   in  his   Memoires  ; — Niceron,  in   his 
Hommes  illustres,  vol.  xliii.  ; — C.    Sapey,   Essai  sur   la  vie   et   les 
ouvrages  de  G.  du   Vair,  Paris,  1847  ; — E.  Cougny,  G-uillaume  du 
Vair,  a  study  based  upon  new  documents,  Paris,  1857. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — Undeserved  oblivion  into  which 
Du  Vair  has  fallen ; — although  he  was  bishop  and  Count  of  Lisieux ; — 
First  President  of  the  Parliament  of  Provence ; — and  twice  Keeper  of 
the  Seals  of  France ; — or  perhaps  it  is  because  he  held  these  offices 
that  he  is  forgotten. — The  truth  is,  his  political  career  does  not  seem 
to  have  added  greatly  to  his  reputation  [Cf.  Bazin,  Histoire  dc  France 
sous  le  regne  de  Louis  XIII. ,] — Moreover,  he  has  not  left  his  mark  on 
the  history  of  the  Church ; — having  only  been  appointed  bishop  of 
Lisieux  when  over  sixty  years  old ; — but  he  was  a  great  lover  of 
literature ; — and  he  did  more  for  French  oratory  than   any  of  his 
predecessors ; — by  his  translations  of  Aeschines,  Demosthenes   and 
Cicero  [Pour  and  Contre  Ctesiphon  and  Pour  Milan]  ; — by  the  series 


THE    FORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  97 

throughout  Europe  has  kept  pace  with  the  political  or 
military  successes  achieved  by  Charles  V.  and  Philip  II. 
While  the  women  of  France  were  bestowing  their 
admiration  on  the  romantic  qualities  of  the  Amadis,  the 
language  of  current  use  was  becoming  loaded  and  dis- 
figured by  Italianisms.  Henry  Estienne  has  drawn  up  a 
list  of  the  military  terms  and  the  terms  in  vogue  at  court, 
of  the  terms  relating  to  the  arts  and  those  relating  to 
debauchery  that  invaded  our  vocabulary,  and  all,  or  almost 
all,  of  which  have  since  retained  their  place  there.  The 
protest  of  La  Noue,  in  his  Discours  sur  les  Amadis, 
against  the  taste  for  romances  and  against  the  imitation 
of  Spanish  manners  was  equally  unavailing.  It  might 
seem  at  first  sight  that  the  authors  of  the  Satire  Menippee 
were  more  successful,  but  has  not  the  political  importance 


of  his  Arrets  rendus  en  robe  rouge ; — and  by  his  very  delicate  percep- 
tion of  the  qualities  the  language  was  still  wanting  in  [Cf .  his  Traite 
de  I' Eloquence  franc,  aise,  et  des  raisons  pour  quoi  elle  est  demeuree  si 
basse]. 

Furthermore,  he  exerted  a  really  important  influence  as  a 
philosopher. — Of  his  translation  of  the  Manual  of  Epictetus  and 
of  his  Traite  de  la  philosophic  des  Sto'iques. — In  what  respect  his 
work  is  related  to  and  throws  light  on  that  of  Charron  ; — but  he  was 
mixed  up  in  public  affairs  to  a  greater  extent  than  Charron,  and  in 
consequence  he  has  the  advantage  of  the  latter  as  regards  experience  ; 
— his  field  of  psychological  and  moral  observation  is  proportionately 
wider. — His  conception,  too,  of  the  dignity  of  reason  and  of  the  power 
of  the  will  is  more  "  Stoic  " ; — and  in  consequence  loftier  in  the 
measure  in  which  the  Stoic  point  of  view  is  loftier  than  that  of  the 
Epicureans. — And  to  conclude,  in  his  Traite  de  la  sainte  philosophic 
he  takes  the  final  step  : — after  having  essayed  to  secularise  morality, 
he  renounces  the  effort ; — and  failing  to  see  a  remedy  for  the  pre- 
vailing corruption  except  in  a  return  to  Christian  morality,  he  asserts 
the  necessity  of  this  return. — Analogy  between  this  evolution  and 
that  of  the  thought  of  Pascal. — The  Traites  philosophiques  of  Du 
Vair  are  as  necessary  as  La  Sagesse  to  an  understanding  of  the 
movement  from  which  Jansenism  is  to  be  evolved. 

8 


98  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FEENCH  LITERATURE 

of  this  celebrated  pamphlet  been  somewhat  exaggerated '? 
In  any  case,  and  supposing  it  to  have  been  as  effective  as 
several  armies,  its  literary  importance  is  not  much  more 
considerable  on  that  account.  But  here  again,  as  above, 
the  symptom  is  significant.  There  has  been  brought 
into  being  a  spirit  of  resistance  against  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  Pleiad  and  the  infatuation  of  the  courtiers  for 
everything  Italian  or  Spanish.  Moreover,  a  goal  has 
come  into  view :  a  goal  which,  though  it  will  not  be 
reached  at  once,  will  not  be  lost  sight  of  for  the  future. 
The  "nationalisation"  of  French  literature,  impossible 
as  circumstances  for  the  time  being  may  render  its 
realisation,  has  become  the  object  at  which  writers, 
society  and  even  royalty,  are  about  to  aim ;  in  a  word, 
the  classic  ideal  may  be  only  vaguely  self-conscious  as  yet, 


3.  THE  WORKS. — There  being  very  many  editions  of  Du  Vair,  in 
enumerating  his  works  here  we  follow  the  order  observed  in  what  has 
seemed  to  us  the  most  complete  edition,  that  published  at  Cologne  by 
Pierre  Aubert  in  1617. ' — (1)  Actions  et  Traites  oratoires,  1586-1614, 
among  which  are  to  be  noted :  Exhortation  a  la  paix  adressec  a  ceux 
de  la  Ligue  and  Suasion  de  I'arret  pour  la  loi  salique  au  Parlement ; 
— (2)  De  VEloquence  francaise,  including  the  treatise  properly  so 
called  and  the  three  translations  cited  above  ; — (3)  Arrets  prononces 
en  robe  rouge,  of  which  there  are  three  more  in  the  folio  edition  of 
1641  than  in  the  edition  of  1617,  or  in  all  eight ; — (4)  Philosophic 
treatises,  including,  in  addition  to  the  works  already  cited,  a  Traite 
de  la  Constance  and  an  Exhortation  a  la  vie  civile ; — (5)  Treatises 
on  piety  and  Meditations,  including  the  Traite  de  la  sainte  philo- 
sophic and  Meditations  on  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Canticle  of  Ezekiel, 
the  Psalms  of  Penitence,  etc.,  etc. 

We  do  not  know  of  a  modern  edition  of  Du  Vair. 

VIII.— Francois  de  Sales  [Chateau  of  Thorens,  in  Savoy,  1567  ; 
t  Lyons,  1622]. 

1  We  have  been  unable  to  fix  the  exact  dates  of  the  first  publication  of  the 
separate  works  of  Du  Vair ;  and  we  would  remark,  for  instance,  that  the  date 
assigned  to  his  Traites  pliilosopliig.ues,  1606,  is  certainly  erroneous,  since  entire 
passages  from  it  are  found  in  La  Sagesae  of  Charron,  who  died  in  1603. 


THE   FORMATION   OF    THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  99 

but  nevertheless  it  is  already  in  existence.  Similarly, 
a  man  of  genius  or  talent  may  spend  his  youth  in  con- 
fused agitation,  may  appear  to  fritter  away  or  even  to 
dissipate  his  energy,  whereas  all  the  while  an  inner  force 
keeps  him  from  straying  and  directs  him  to  his  goal ;  and 
his  originality  only  gains  by  the  chequered  nature  of  his 
experiences. 

Again  Guillaume  du  Vair  has  written  in  one  of  his 
works  :  "  Of  all  the  benefits  procured  us  by  civil  society, 
there  is  none  we  should  rate  more  highly  or  set  greater 
store  on  than  the  friendship  of  honourable  men ;  for  it  is 
the  foundation  and  pivot  of  our  felicity.  It  shapes  our 
wliole  existence,  it  sweetens  the  bitterness  of  life,  it  gives 
savour  to  the  pleasant  experiences  that  befall  us.  In 
prosperity  it  gives  us  persons  to  whom  we  may  render 


1.  THE    SOURCES. — Charles-Auguste   de   Sales,   Histoire   du    bien- 
lieureux  Francois  de  Sales,  1634 ; — Bossuet,  Panegyrique  de  Francois 
de  Sales,  1662  ; — Bulle  de  canonisation  de  Saint  Francois  de  Sales, 
1665; — Sainte-Beuve  :    Port-Boyal,  book  i.,   chap.   ix.   and  x.,   and 
Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  vii.  ; — A.  Sayous  :  La  litterature  francaise  a 
Vetranger,  vol.  i.,  chap.  i.  and  ii.  ;  Paris,  1853  ; — Robiou  :  Essai  sur  la 
litterature  et  les  mceurs  pendant  la  premiere  moitie  du  XVIIC  siecle, 
Paris,  1858 ; — F.  Strowski,  Saint- Francois  de  Sales,  Paris,  1898 ; — 
dom  Mackey's  Notices  in  the  edition  of  the  Works,  Annecy,  1892  and 
following  years.1 

2.  THE  CONTROVERSIALIST,  THE  WRITER,  THE   ORATOR. — Fra^ois 
de  Sales  has  his  place  in  literary  history  as  a  controversialist,  an 

"  ascetic  "  writer  and  a  preacher. — His  family  and  education. — The 
college  of  Clermont  and  the  university  of  Padua  [Cf.  Antonio 
Favaro:  Galileo  Galilei  e  lo  studio  di  Padova,  Florence,  1883].  The 
early  career  of  Fra^ois  de  Sales. — His  meeting  with  Theodore  de 
Beze. — The  mission  to  Chablais  [1594-1598]  ; — and  the  first  writings 
of  Fran£ois  de  Sales :  Les  Controverses  and  the  Defense  de  Vetendard 
de  la  Croix. — The  keen  perspicacity  and  clearness  of  argument  with 
which  he  reduces  the  essentials  of  the  controversy  between  Protestants 

1  We  naturally  do  not  feel  called  upon  to  enumerate  here  the  very  numerous 
publications  belonging  rather  to  hagiography  than  to  literary  history. 


100     MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE 

service  and  with  whom  we  may  rejoice  at  our  good 
fortune,  in  affliction  persons  to  aid  and  console  us,  in  our 
youth  persons  to  advise  and  instruct  us,  in  old  age 
persons  to  help  us  and  reason  with  us,  and  in  manhood 
persons  to  assist  and  second  us."  At  first  sight  one  is 
tempted  to  consider  these  words  merely  as  the  expression 
of  a  commonplace  of  morality.  But  when  one  weighs 
them  "as  with  the  scales  of  the  goldsmiths";  and 
further  when  one  considers  them  in  connection  with  the 
historical  events  of  the  period ;  when  one  reflects,  in 
fact,  that  they  were  penned  at  a  time  when  the  pacific 
policy  inseparably  connected  with  the  most  glorious  years 
of  the  reign  of  Henri  IV.  was  yielding  its  results,  they 
seem  to  acquire  fresh  significance.  While  suffering  from 
the  combined  evils  of  foreign  and  civil  war,  people  learned 


and  Catholics  to  the  matter  of  the  unity  of  Church. — His  sojourn  in 
Paris  in  1602 ; — and  the  Oraison  funebre  du  due  de  Mercosur. — He  is 
ordained  bishop  of  Geneva,  1602. 

Of  the  Introduction  a  la  vie  devote  [Cf.  Jules  Very,  La  Philothee  de 
St.  Francois  de  Sales,  Geneva,  1878] ; — and  in  what  respect  Fra^ois 
de  Sales  continues  the  work  of  Du  Vair  in  this  book. — Charm  and  seduc- 
tion of  the  book. — The  "harmonies  of  nature  "  in  Fra^ois  de  Sales' 
book. — He  is  the  first  of  the  several  Savoyards  who  will  contribute  to 
the  glory  of  French  literature  [Cf.  Sayous,  Litterature  francaise  a 
Vetranger]. — How  far  can  he  be  said  to  have  rendered  piety  accessible, 
fashionable,  and  attractive  ? — In  reality  his  doctrine  is  severe  ; — and 
that  had  he  presented  it  in  a  different  manner  it  would  no  longer 
have  been  Christianity,  but  Stoicism. — The  Traite  de  I'amour  de 
Dieu. 

Of  Fran9ois  de  Sales  as  a  preacher ; — and  why  has  he  been 
omitted  from  among  the  "forerunners  of  Bossuet"  [Cf .  Jacquinet : 
Les  predicateurs  du  XVIIs  siecle  avant  Bossuet; — and  Freppel: 
Bossuet  et  P  eloquence  sacree  au  XVIIe  siecle]. — Comparison  between 
the  "  Sermon  for  the  Fete  of  the  Assumption  "  and  Bossuet's  sermon, 
on  the  same  subject. — Utility  of  comparisons  of  this  kind,  and  that 
there  is  no  surer  method  of  characterising  the  different  preachers. — 
Another  comparison  between  the  "Sermon  for  Twelth  Night"  and 


THE   FOKMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  101 

to  appreciate  the  incomparable  importance  of  the  social 
fabric,  and  awoke  to  the  fact  that  its  destruction  or 
weakening  is  the  direst  of  misfortunes.  The  belief  that 
the  aim  of  the  individual  should  be  the  free  development 
of  the  forces  with  which  nature  has  endowed  him,  falls 
into  disrepute ;  and  the  belief  is  abandoned  too,  of  the 
author  of  the  Essais,  that  men,  like  nuts  in  a  sack, 
always  end  by  "making  a  heap"  by  settling  down  in  a 
sort  of  inertia  born  of  habit,  that  bears  a  resemblance 
to  order.  But  just  as  bodily  health,  which  is  thought 
to  be  a  gift  of  nature,  is  really  the  outcome  of  ad- 
herence to  a  system  of  hygiene,  and,  in  consequence, 
of  an  appropriate  "effort,"  so  to  enable  society  to 
maintain  its  equilibrium,  it  is  not  sufficient  that  it  be 
left  to  itself,  but  on  the  contrary  this  stability  demands 

Fenelon's  sermon  on  the  same  subject. — The  Traite  de  la  predication 
and  the  rhetoric  of  Fra^ois  de  Sales. — "  The  sovereign  artifice  is 
to  dispense  with  artifice." — Whether  Fran9ois  de  Sales  has  always 
observed  his  own  precept? — That  there  is  a  certain  affectation,  a 
certain  striving  after  "  prettiness  "  and  intentional  simplicity  in  his 
manner. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — They  fall  into  two  groups :  Polemical  Works  and 
Ascetic  Works.  The  first  includes :  Les  Controverses, — the  Defense  de 
Vestendard  de  la  Croix, — and  some  shorter  works  of  less  importance. — 
The  second  group  includes  the  Introduction  a  la  vie  devote,  1608 ; — 
the  Traite  de  V Amour  de  Dieu,  1612 ; — and  the  Entretiens  spirituels, 
which  were  not  published  until  1629. — To  these  works  must  be  added 
a  few  opuscules,  notably  the  opuscule  Degres  d'oraison,  the  Lettres 
Spirituelles  ou  de  direction  and  the  Sermons.  —  The  lay  corre- 
spondence of  the  Saint  also  deserves  to  be  read. 

Few  books  have  had  so  many  editions  as  the  Introduction  a  la  vie 
devote. — There  are  two  good  editions  of  the  complete  works,  but  they 
will  be  superseded  henceforth  by  an  edition  at  present  in  course  of 
publication  "under  the  supervision  of  the  nuns  of  the  Visitation  of  the 
first  monastery  of  Annecy,"  and  under  the  direction  of  the  Reverend 
dom  Mackey,  O.S.B.  Eight  volumes  of  this  edition  have  already 
appeared  ;  Annecy,  printed  by  Nidrat. 


102     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

a    constant   personal   effort    on    the    part    of    each    one 
of  us. 

Such  is  the  meaning  of  the  excellent  Du  Vair,  and  of 
a  like  way  of  feeling  and  thinking  are  the  Canon  of 
Condom,  Pierre  Charron,  author  of  the  Traite  de  la 
Sagesse ;  Honore  d'Urfe,  the  Forezian  gentleman,  the 
unhappy  husband  of  the  beautiful  Diane  de  Chateau- 
morand,  and  the  author  of  that  Astree  which  is  about  to 
become  the  code  of  polite  society ;  and  Francois  de  Sales 
as  we  see  from  his  Introduction  a  la  vie  devote.  We  do 
not  exist  for  ourselves  alone,  but  for  other  men  as  well ; 
and  what  is  more,  we  can  only  reach  our  full  development 
as  the  result  of  commerce  with  our  fellows.  In  conse- 
quence, in  the  interest  of  human  society,  and  therefore  in 
our  own  individual  and  personal  interest,  let  each  of  us 


IX.— Mathurin  Regnier  [Chartres,  1573  ;  f  1613,  Rouen]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Goujet  in  his  Bibliotheque  francaise,  vol.  xiv. ; — 
Sainte-Beuve,  Tableau  de  la  Poesie  francaise  c\u  XVPsieclc;  Mathurin 
Regnier  et  Andre  Chenier,  1829  ; — Viollet-le-Duc,  Notice  preceding  his 
edition  of  the  Satires,  1853 ; — Eobiou,  Essai  sur  I'histoire  de  la 
litterature  et  des  moeurs,  etc.,  Paris,  1858; — Garsonnet,  Etude  sur 
Mathurin  Regnier,  Paris,  1859  and  1877  ; — Courbet,  Notice  preceding 
his  edition  of  the  Satires,  Paris,  1875  ; — J.  Vianey,  Mathurin  Regnier, 
Paris,  1896. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  POET. — That  Regnier,  even  when  he  begins  to 
write,  is   already  behind   his  time, — as   a  libertine,  who  is  bent  on 
keeping  up  the  licentious    traditions   of    another  age ; — and   as    a 
disciple  of  Ronsard,  whom  he  copies  outrageously. — His  qualities : — a 
freedom  of  expression  and  plainness  of  language  that  often  degenerate 
into  grossness     [Cf.  Satire  xiii.]  ; — the  gift  of  observing,  depicting, 
and  satirising  [Cf.  Satire  viii.]  ; — at  least  apparent  if  not  always  real 
ease  and  naturalness  [Cf.  Satires  iii.  and  vii.]. — His  defects: — sole- 
cisms and  prolixity  [Cf.  Satire  L]  ; — want  of  taste  and  inartisticness 
[Cf.  Satire  x.]  : 

His  carelessness  is  his  chief  artifice. 

— lack  of    invention   and    of    ideas. — What  is    the    reason    of   his 


THE    FORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  103 

renounce  in  a  measure  that  egoism  that  comes,  it  must  be 
confessed,  so  natural  to  us !  We  shall  be  more  than 
repaid  for  the  sacrifices  we  may  have  to  make  by  the 
pleasures  the  increased  amenity  of  life  will  offer.  Since 
we  all  of  us  stand  in  continual  need  of  one  another,  let 
us  arrange  to  live  on  a  footing  of  "  honourable  friend- 
ship," of  friendship  which,  from  being  a  service  or  a 
help,  will  become  sooner  or  later  a  pleasure.  Let  us 
organise  our  life  on  a  social  basis,  and  in  such  a  way 
that,  in  addition  to  an  habitual  exchange  of  services, 
it  shall  embrace  an  exchange  of  sentiments  or  ideas. 
Let  us  multiply  our  occasions  of  meeting,  since  to  do 
so  wil]  be  to  multiply  the  means  of  arriving  at  a 
mutual  understanding;  and  from  each  of  us  will  be 
evolved,  as  it  were,  a  social  type  without  any  distin- 

reputation  ? — It  is  due  to  the  fact  that  Boileau  was  pleased  to  drag 
him  from  obscurity  ; — to  the  fact  that  he  is  a  Gaul ; — and  to  the  fact 
that  in  a  certain  sense,  on  account  of  the  vigour  of  some  of  his  lines, 
he  is  one  of  the  links  between  Rabelais,  for  instance,  and  Moliere. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Putting  aside  some  epigrams, — two  elegies  ; — and 
a  few  obscene  pieces  that  have  found  their  way  into  the  Cabinet 
satyrique; — the  works  of  Eegnier  are  restricted  to  his  Satires,  of 
which  there  are  in  all  nineteen. 

The  best  edition  is  that  of  Courbet,  Paris,  1875,  Lemerre  ; — in  which 
two  opuscules  of  M.  Dezeimeris,  Bordeaux,  1876  and  1880 ; — and  the 
researches  of  M.  Vianey  [1896]  would  permit  of  numerous  improve- 
ments still  being  made. 

X.— Honore  d'Urfe  [Marseilles,  1568 ;  f  1625,  YiUefranche,  Alpes- 
Maritimes] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — D'Urfe  himself  in  several  episodes  of  his  Astree, 
which  are  merely  incidents  of  his  life  "  put  into  a  romance  "  ; — Patru, 
Eclair cissements  sur  I'histoire  de  V Astree  in  the  Plaidoyers  et  ceuvres 
diverses  de  M.  Patru,  Paris,  1681,  Mabre-Cramoisy  ; — Auguste 
Bernard,  Les  d'Urfe,  Paris,  1889; — Norbert  Bonafous,  Etudes  sur 
I' Astree  et  Honore  d1  Urfe,  Paris,  1846  ; — Louis  de  Lomenie,  L' Astree 
et  le  roman  pastoral  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  for  July  15, 


104     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

guishing  "  sign,"  or,  as  would  be  said  at  the  present 
day,  without  any  "speciality."  We  touch  here  on  the 
fundamental  idea  of  classicism,  and  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  or  two  hundred  years  the  historj7  of  French 
literature  will  be  merely  the  history  of  the  transforma- 
tions or  the  development  of  this  governing  idea. 

Thus,  when  we  come  to  determine  in  a  few  words  the 
progress  made,  we  are  offered  the  spectacle,  during  the 
last  years  of  the  reign  of  Henri  IV.,  of  an  original  and 
national  literature  endeavouring  to  emancipate  itself 
from  the  imitation  of  foreign  literatures.  To  judge  from 
the  most  characteristic  of  the  symptoms  we  have 
enumerated,  this  literature  will  prove  more  especially 
"social"  ;  by  which  is  meant  that  it  will  set  itself  the 
task  of  preserving,  developing,  and  perfecting  the  social 


1858 ; — Emile  Montegut,  En  Bourbonnais  et  en  Forez,  Paris,  1880  ; 
— Korting,  Geschichte  des  Franzosischen  Romans  im  XVII  Jalir- 
hundert,  Leipsic  and  Oppeln,  1885-1887. 

2.  THE  SOURCE  OF  THE  ASTREE. — B'ography  of  Honore  d'Urfe;-  — 
his  first   work :    The   Epistres   Morales,   1598 ; — his   marriage   with 
Diane  de  Chateaumorand ; — his  conjugal  misfortunes ; — his  poem  Le 
Sireine,  1606. — The  framework  of  the  Astree, — The  mingling  of  fiction 
and  reality  [Cf.  Patru,  Eclaircissements,  etc.].— The  background  of 
the  narrative  and  the  Diana  enamorada  of  Georges  de  Montemayor. 
— The  tone  of  the  narration  and  the  pastoral  romance  ; — the  European 
vogue  of  the  pastoral   romance; — the  Arcadia  of  Sannazar  and  of 
Sydney ;  —the  descriptions  of  Forez  in  d'Urfe's  romance  [Cf .  Montegut, 
En  Bourbonnais,  etc.]  ; — the  anecdotes  of  the  court ; — the  symbolical 
intention  [Cf.  the  dedication  of  the  Astree] . — Connection  between  the 
Introduction  a  la  vie  devote  and  the  romance  of  the  Astree. 

3.  THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ASTREE. — General  features  of  the  work ; 
— and  that  far  from  the  episodes  in  it  being  hors-d'oeuvre  as  compared 
with  the  main  plot,  as  is  the  case  in  other  romances  of  the  same  type, 
it  is  on  the  contrary  the  main  plot  that  is  the  pretext  or  the  oppor- 
tunity for  the  episodes. — Varied  interest  of  the  book  in  consequence  : 
— (1)  Historical  episodes  [Eudoxe  et  Valentinian,  part  ii.,  book  12] ; 
— (2)  Contemporary  allusions  \Euric,  Daplinide  et  Alcidon,  part  iii., 


THE    FORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  105 

edifice.  Since  it  is  to  be  social,  it  will  be  general,  which 
amounts  to  saying  that  it  will  not  be,  or  that  it  will 
rarely  be,  the  expression  of  the  personality  of  the  writer, 
but  rather  that  of  the  relations  of  the  individual  with  the 
requirements  of  an  ideal  humanity,  always  and  every- 
where analogous  to  or  identical  with  itself,  subsisting 
eternally,  so  to  speak,  and  offering  on  that  account  im- 
mutable characteristics.  Social  in  its  aims  and  general 
in  regard  to  its  modes  of  expression,  this  literature  will 
also  be  moral  to  the  exact  extent  to  which  morality  is 
indispensable  to  the  existence  of  society.  We  would 
convey  by  this  restriction  that  the  literature  we  are  about 
to  deal  with  will  be  less  concerned  with  embodying  in  its 
works  the  absolute  side  contained  in  the  principle  of  every 
morality,  than  with  rendering  the  relative  element  that  is 

book  3] ; — (3)  Personal  inventions  [Damon  et  Madonthc,  part  ii., 
book  6]. — The  form  of  the  narrative  is  no  less  varied : — descriptions 
[part  ii.,  book  5]  ; — conversations  [part  ii.,  book  12] ; — narrations 
[part  iii..  book  7] ; — examples  of  every  kind  of  composition  are  found 
ia  the  work,  including  letters  and  love  sonnets ; — to  say  nothing  of 
passages  of  a  more  realistic  or  more  brutal  stamp. — Of  the  style  of 
the  Astree : — its  elegance  and  clearness ; — it  is  smooth  and  flowing ; — 
it  combines  precision  with  copiousness ; — its  psychological  value  ; — 
and  in  this  connection  of  the  sketches  of  the  different  varieties  of  love 
in  the  Astree. — Sensual  and  brutal  love  [Eudoxe  et  Valentinian,  part 
ii.,  book  12] ; — fickle  and  capricious  love  [Hylas,  part  L,  passim]  ; 
— young  and  passionate  love  \CTnryseide  et  Arimant,  part  iii.,  books  7 
and  8]  ;- -chivalrous  love  [Bosanire,  Celeodante  et  Rosileon,  part  iv., 
book  10]  ; — mystic  love  [Celadon  et  Astree]. — Variety  of  the  characters. 
— That  the  book  as  a  whole  leaves  an  impression  of  charm  and  grace- 
fulness to  which  there  had  been  nothing  analogous  previously  in  French 
literature  ; — a  fact  that  explains  the  success  of  the  book,  a  success  as 
prodigious  as  almost  any  in  literary  history  :  and  the  duration  of  its 
influence. 

4.  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  ASTREE. — Ought  it  to  be  ascribed  a  share 
in  the  formation  of  "  precious  "  society  ? — That  in  any  case  the  work 
will  shape  the  destiny  of  the  drama  for  more  than  twenty  years ; — and 


106     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

always  to  hand  in  its  applications.  In  consequence,  the 
morality  in  question  will  be  neither  the  Christian  morality 
of  renunciation  and  sacrifice,  nor  even  the  Stoic  morality 
of  effort :  it  will  be  a  morality  for  the  use  of  good  society. 
In  the  last  place,  this  literature  will  not  fail  to  attach 
great  importance  to  the  charms  of  style ;  first,  because 
to  persuade  it  will  need  to  please ;  secondly,  because  style 
alone  is  able  to  save  generalities  from  the  danger  they 
are  always  exposed  to  of  degenerating  into  "common- 
places "  ;  and  thirdly,  because  it  has  already  fashioned 
its  rules  of  poetry  and  rhetoric  on  the  Latin  model. 
Let  us  now  proceed  to  consider  its  performances  and 
so  follow  its  development. 


of  the  romance  for  more  than  fifty  years ; — supposing  that  the 
Princesse  de  Cleves  is,  properly  speaking,  only  an  episode  of  the 
Astree. — It  is  possible  to  go  still  further  [Cf.  Montegut,  En  Bour- 
bonnais,  etc.],  and  to  trace  something  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Astree ; 
— in  Racine's  tragedies ; — in  Marivaux'  comedies ; — in  Prevost's  novels ; 
— in  J.  J.  Rousseau ; — and  perhaps  even  among  contemporary  writers 
in  certain  of  the  novels  of  George  Sand. — What  precedes  amounts  to 
saying  that  the  success  of  the  Astree  determined  the  direction  taken 
by  an  entire  and  important  current  in  our  literature. 

5.  THE  WORKS. — We  have  already  mentioned  the  Epistres  Morales, 
1598 ; — and  le  Sireine,  1606. — There  must  be  added  Sylvanire,  a 
woodland  fable,  1627,  and  the  Amours  de  Floridon. 

As  to  the  Astree,  the  two  first  volumes  appeared  in  1610  or  per- 
haps in  1608 ;  the  two  following  volumes  in  1616 ;  and  the  fifth  and 
sixth  volumes  in  1619.  The  four  others  are  posthumous,  and  it  is 
scarcely  possible  to  distinguish  between  what  of  them  should  be 
attributed  to  d'Urfe  and  what  of  them  is  the  work  of  Baro,  his 
continuator.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  have  not  referred  to  them 
in  our  analysis  of  the  romance. 

The  best  edition  of  the  Astree  is  that  of  1647,  published  by  Toussaint 
Quinet  and  Antoine  de  Sommaville. 


CHAPTEE  II 

THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF    FRENCH 
LITERATURE 


I  do  not  know  whether  war  is  "  divine,"  but  a  state 
of  conflict  certainly  seems  "a  law  of  the  world";  no 
triumph  is  really  peaceful,  and  even  ideas  rarely  assert 
their  empire  except  at  the  expense  and  on  the  ruins 
of  other  ideas  whose  place  they  take.  Several  con- 

THE   AUTHORS   AND   THEIE   WORKS 
FOURTH  PERIOD 

From  the  formation  of  the  "  precious  "  society  to  the 
first  representation  of  the  "  Precieuses  Ridicules " 

1610-1659 

I.— The  Hotel  Rambouillet. 

1.  The  SOURCES. — The  Historiettes  of  Tallemant  des  Reaux;— the 
letters  of  Balzac  and  Voiture ; — Madeleine  de  Scudery's  Artamene,  ou 
le  Grand  Cyrus ; — Bodeau  de  Somaize,  Le  Grand  dictionnaire  des 
Pretieuses,  1661 ; — Flechier's  funeral  orations  in  honour  of  the  Duke 
and  Duchess  of  Montausier. 

Rcederer :  Memoire  pour  servir  a  Vhistoire  de  la  societe  polie, 
Paris,  1835 ; — Walckenaer,  Memoires  sur  Mme  de  Sevigne,  vols.  i.  and 
ii.,  Paris,  1852 ; — V.  Cousin,  La  Societe  franqaise  au  XVIIf  siecle, 
Paris,  1858  ; — A.  Fabre,  Lajeunesse  de  Flechier,  Paris,  1882. 

2.  THE  GENERAL  THEORY  OF  PRECIOSITY. 

A.  Of  preciosity  as  a  literary  conception, — It  consists  in  believing 
(1)  that  there  is  something  specific  or  unique  in  its  class  about  the 
pleasure  derived  from  literature  as  about  that  derived  from  music  or 

107 


108     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

ditions,  in  consequence,  had  still  to  obtain,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  to  permit  of 
French  literature  completely  realising  its  true  character ; 
and  first  of  all  it  was  necessary  that  public  opinion 
should  master  or  stay  the  progress  of  that  individualist, 
unruly,  and  licentious  spirit,  which  had  not  been  entirely 
subdued  by  Henri  IV.  even  in  the  sphere  of  politics.  A 
book  which  is  at  once  one  of  the  most  enigmatical,  and 
one  of  the  foulest  in  our  literature,  Beroalde  de  Verville's 
Moyen  de  Parvenir,  is  contemporary  with  the  Astree, 
which  itself  is  not  exempt  from  a  certain  shamelessness 
of  language  and  grossness  of  sentiment ;  while  the  obscene 
collection  of  the  Parnasse  satyrique,  of  which  one  scarcely 

from  the  picturesque, — and  this  is  the  truth  ; — (2)  that  the  essential 
cause  of  this  pleasure  is  style,  that  is  the  turn  the  writer  gives  what  he 
says,  the  manner  in  which  he  expresses  himself, — which  is  already  less 
true  ; — and  (3)  that  the  pleasure  is  in  proportion  to  the  effort  that 
has  been  expended  or  to  the  difficulties  that  have  been  surmounted  in 
hitting  upon  this  mode  of  expression, — which  is  not  true  at  all. — 
Analogies  and  differences  between  this  conception  and  the  conception 
of  "  art  for  art."- — The  principal  of  them  is  that  preciosity  aimed 
at  the  realisation  of  the  " fashion  "  instead  of  at  that  of  "beauty." — 
The  resulting  consequences  are : — (1)  A  horror  of  pedantry,  erudition 
and  even  of  tradition ; — (2)  That  in  intellectual  matters  as  in  conver- 
sation and  in  clothes,  store  is  only  set  on  an  air  of  modernity ; — (3) 
A  tendency,  the  outcome  of  this  latter  disposition,  to  exaggerate  the 
distance  that  separates  polite  society  from  the  vulgar  herd. 

B.  Of  preciosity  as  a  disease  of  language. — That  it  consists  in 
treating  language  no  longer  as  a  "work  of  art"  even; — but  as  a 
pretext  for  the  writer  himself  to  make  a  display  of  virtuosity. 

E  del  poeta  fin  la  maraviglia 

Chi  lion  sa  far  stupir,  vada  alia  striglia.      [MARINO.] 

[Cf.  de  Sanctis  :  Storia  della  letteratura  italiana,  vol.  ii.  ;  Mertendez 
y  Pelayo,  Historia  de  las  ideas  esteticas  en  Espaiia,  vol.  ii. ;  and 
Mezieres,  Predecesseurs  et  contemporains  de  Shakespeare.] — Some 
characteristics  of  the  disease : — Never  to  call  anything  by  its  name, 
but  always  to  have  recourse  to  paraphrase,  allusion  or  sous-entendu  ; 


THE    NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     109 

ventures  to  cite  the  title,  would  alone  suffice  to  illustrate 
the  state  of  morals  towards  1610. 

Further  testimony  is  offered  by  the  Satires  of  Mathurin 
Kegnier.  Often  quoted,  on  account  of  some  few  happy 
lines, — which  prior  to  those  of  Boileau  became  proverbs 
directly  they  were  published, — little  read,  but  only  the 
more  vaunted,  the  Satires  of  Begnier  are  as  it  were  the 
protest  of  the  Gallic  genius  against  the  new  ideal. 
Instinctively  hostile,  not  only  to  all  restraint,  but  to 
every  rule  or  every  law,  Regnier  defends  and  upholds  in 
his  Satires,  not  dogmatically,  but  with  that  nonchalance 
which  is  "  his  greatest  artifice  "  and  his  charm,  the  entire 
and  absolute  liberty  of  the  individual.  Each  of  us  is  very 

— to  lend  an  exaggerated  and  jesting  importance  to  trtfleS  and  to 
treat  matters  of  moment  in  a  conversational  tone ; — to  play  upon 
words,  to  make  points,  conceits,  agudezas, 

Ne  dis  plus  qu'il  est  amarante 
Dis  plutot  qu'il  est  de  ma  rente ; 

to  draw  unexpected  comparisons ; — to  force  metaphors  [Cf.  Les 
Femmcs  savantes]  ;  in  a  word,  to  couch  all  one  says  in  a  language 
only  comprehensible  to  the  initiated ; — and  in  this  connection  that 
slang  and  jargon  are  to  some  extent  the  same  thing. 

C.  Of  preciosity  as  a  turn  or  disposition  of  mind. — It  consists  in  a 
natural  or  acquired  dislike  for  the  commonplace ; — danger  of  this  dis- 
like ;  —but,  on  the  other,  hand,  its  advantages  ; — and  that  its  counter- 
part is  a  taste  for  what  is  refined,  delicate,  subtle  and  complex.— The 
way  in  which  this  disposition  of  mind  tends  to  make  affairs  of  love 
and  gallantry  the  constant  preoccupation  of  those  who  possess  it. — 
Great  resulting  advantage  to  :  conversation, — polite  manners ; — and 
social  relations  in  general. — Women  make  their  entry  into  literature 
— and  with  them  make  their  appearance  the  qualities  more  peculiar 
to  women  ; — qualities  of  which  neither  Montaigne  nor  Rabelais  had 
had  an  idea ; — and  as  much  may  perhaps  be  said  of  some  of  the 
greatest  of  the  ancient  writers. 

3.  THE  HOTEL  KAMBOUILLET. 

A.  Catherine  de  Vivonne,  Marquise  de  Rambouillet  [1588,  f  1665] . 
— Her  family ; — and  her  father,  although  the  Marquis  de  Pisani,  must 


well  as  he  is  ;  has  the  right  to  remain  as  he  is  ;  and 
whoever  would  interfere  with  this  right  deserves  the 
name  of  pedant.  At  any  rate,  I  know  of  no  idea 
on  which  he  harps  in  his  verses  more  often  or  more 
complaisantly  than  the  idea  that  everything  is  relative ; 
which  clearly  is  another  way  of  expressing  what  I 
have  just  said.  Around  him  is  a  numerous  school  that 
thinks  and  feels  as  he  does,  that  is  not  properly 
speaking  a  school,  in  the  sense  that  it  is  not  inspired 
by  him  or  by  anybody  it  is  possible  to  call  its  chief, 
but  a  school  that  along  with  him  represents  this  spirit 
or  rather  this  instinct  of  resistance  :  vulgar  Epicureans 
of  the  type  of  the  Motins,  the  Sigognes  and  the 

not  be  taken  to  have  been  an  Italian  nobleman ; — her  marriage  with 
Charles  d'Angeiines,  Marquis  de  Rambouillet. — Tallemant's  portrait 
of  her  [Historiettes,  Paulin  Paris'  edition,  in  8vo,  ii.,  485]  ; — Mile  de 
Scudery's  portrait  of  her  [Le  Grand  Cyrus,  edition  of  1654,  vol.  vii., 
489]  ; — Flechier's  portrait  in  his  Oraison  funebre. — She  hit  upon 
the  idea  of  genius  of  assembling  in  her  "ruelle"  or  private  circle 
noblemen  and  men  of  letters  oa  a  footing  of  temporary  equality. — 
The  part  played  by  the  Salons  in  the  history  of  French  literature. — 
That  it  is  sbrange  that  it  should  still  be  at  the  expense  of  Mme  de 
Rambouillet  that  jests  are  made — while  Mme  Geoflrin  is  spoken  of 
with  admiration. 

B.  Vincent  Voiture,  the  living  incarnation  of  Preciosity  [Amiens, 
1598;  f  1648]. — His  Poems, — and  that  among  them  there  are  many 
that  are  very  insipid  ; — but  there  are  a  few  that  are  exquisite  ; — and 
very  superior  to  many  of  those  of  Cl.  Marot ; — and  that  can  be  com- 
pared with  the  most  vaunted  poems  of  Voltaire  [Cf.  Stances,  a  Silvie, 
— Epitre     a     Conde  ; — Impromptu    pour    Anne     d'Autriche~\. — His 
Letters ; — and   whether   it   be"  true,  as   Voltaire   has   declared,    that 
they  are  the  mere  "  triflings  of  a  rope-dancer  "  ? — Boileau's  estimate 
was  juster. — Voiture's  love-letters  have  the  obvious  fault  of  being  too 
witty ; — but   among  his  miscellaneous  letters  there  are  many  that 
are    quite   admirable  [Cf.    Nos.    123,   109,    101,  63,    90  in  Ubicini's 
edition] ; — and  a  few  that  are  distinguished  by  real  emotion. 

C.  Julie   d'Angennes,  Duchesse   de  Montausier  [1607,  f  1671]. — 
That  she  contributed  more  than  any  one  else  to  render  the  Hotel 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     111 

Berthelots  ;  irregulars  and  libertines,  such  as  the  Theo- 
phile  against  whom  Father  Garasse  will  write  his 
Doctrine  curieuse  des  beaux  esprits ;  daring  and  cynical 
free-thinkers  of  the  kind  that  will  be  found  depicted 
by  the  dozen  in  the  Historiettes  of  Tallemant  des 
Beaux.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  note  in  passing 
that  writers  of  a  similar  stamp  have  been  seen  or  will 
be  seen  to  arise  during  all  the  "regencies"  of  our 
history  :  the  regency  of  Catherine,  the  regency  of  Marie 
de  Medicis,  the  regency  of  Anne  of  Austria,  and  the 
regency  of  Philippe  d'Orleans. 

To   whom  must  be  attributed  the  honour  of  having,  to 
begin  with,  checked  and  interrupted,  and  finally  of  having 

Bambouillet  ridiculous ; — and  that  at  any  rate  all  that  we  know  of 
her  from  contemporary  testimony  shows  her  in  a  sufficiently  dis- 
agreeable light. — She  was  spoiled  by  too  much  homage ; — her  suitors 
or  her  "  dying  admirers  "  gave  too  much  encouragement  to  her  pre- 
tensions to  wit ; — she  seems  to  have  been  far  vainer  than  her  mother 
of  her  good  birth  and  high  rank  ;— and  finally  the  length  of  time  she 
made  Montausier  wait  before  she  accorded  him  her  hand  has  invested 
them  both  with  a  certain  amount  of  ridicule.  [Cf.  for  Montausier, 
Montausier  et  son  temps,  by  Amedee  Roux,  Paris,  I860.] 
4.  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  PRECIOSITY. 

A.  On   the    Language. — It    refined,   enriched,   and    elevated    the 
language. — Preciosity  cleared  the  language  of  a  certain  pedantic  over- 
growth which   encumbered  it   even  in  Montaigne  ; — and  also  of  a 
coarseness  that  disgraced  it  [Cf.  Beroalde  de  Verville's  Moyen  de 
parvenir  and  Tallemant  des  Beaux'  Historiettes']. — It  enriched  the 
language  : — by  determining  the  exact  meaning  of  words ; — by  adopt- 
ing, inventing  or   creating  new  turns  of  speech  ; — and  above  all  by 
inculcating  "  the  force  a  word  acquires  when  put  in  its  right  place." — 
Finally,  preciosity  elevated  the  language  ; — though  it  is  true  that  in 
elevating  it,  it  drew  too  deep  a  dividing  line  between  the  speech  of  the 
vulgar  and  that  of  polite  society. 

B.  On  Manners. — Bcederer's  exaggeration  on  this  head  ; — and  V. 
Cousin  guilty  of  the  same  fault ; — in  their  studies  of  the  polite  society 
of  the  period. — A  saying  of  Pascal  as  to  the  malignity  and  kindliness 
of  people  in  general,  "  which  is  always  the  same  " ; — still,  the  names 


112     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

stemmed  this  current ?  And  shall  we  exclaim  once  more 
with  Boileau  : 

At  last  Malherbe  came  ?  .  .  . 

Doubtless  no,  if  four  or  five  very  beautiful  Odes  and 
some  paraphrases  of  the  Psalms  are,  after  all,  nothing 
more  than  rhetoric ;  and  further,  if  Malherbe  himself, 
while  not  making  a  display  of  licentiousness  or  in- 
credulity, was  utterly  wanting  nevertheless  both  as  a 
writer  and  as  a  man  in  distinction  and  true  intellectual 
nobility.  To  take  another  point,  it  is  not  easy  to  see 
how  his  influence  should  have  made  itself  felt,  since  his 
finest  poems,  which  during  his  lifetime  were  scattered 

by  which  things  are  designated  have  great  importance. — The  way 
hi  which  preciosity  raised  the  tone  of  conversation ; — and  improved 
the  position  of  women.  [Cf.  Huet,  Sur  Vorigine  des  Romans^]  — On 
the  other  hand,  preciosity  accustomed  the  French  intellect  to  treat 
serious  matters  too  frivolously; — and  by  binding  it  down  to  the 
observation  of  good  society,  kept  it  from  a  wider  and  more  sincere 
observation  of  reality. 

C.  On  the  direction  taken  by  literature. — By  establishing  the 
predominance  of  the  manners  of  good  society,  preciosity  completed 
the  downfall  of  lyricism ; — since  people  do  not  frequent  society  with 
a  view  to  making  a  display  of  their  inmost  feelings ; — and  still  less 
with  the  intention  of  contradicting  those  they  meet ; — indeed,  it  may 
perhaps  ba  said  that  nothing  is  more  obligatory  in  society  than  the 
avoidance  of  "  originality ; — and  all  these  rules  of  society  run  exactly 
counter  to  lyricism  or  personal  literature.  Again,  while  preciosity 
furthered  the  development  of  the  "  universal  branches  "  of  literature — 
oratory  and  the  drama, — its  influence  even  in  this  direction  was  not 
without  its  drawbacks ; — admitting  that  it  was  with  a  view  to  content 
the  Precieuses  that  our  drama,  in  a  general  way,  has  refrained  from 
too  spirited  an  imitation  of  reality ; — has  deserved  to  be  styled  "  a 
conversation  beneath  a  chandelier"; — and  that  gallantry  instead  of 
passion  has  become  its  mainspring  ? — On  the  other  hand,  preciosity 
aided  the  development  to  a  notable  extent  of  letter  writing ; — 
of  books  of  Maxims  and  CJiaracters ; — and  of  the  psychological 
romance. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     113 

through  and  to  some  extent  lost  in  the  anthologies  of 
the  period,  did  not  appear  in  collected  form  until  1630, 
two  years  after  his  death.  Moreover,  if  we  are  to  believe 
the  memoirs  of  his  faithful  Racan,  he  was  almost  without 
ideas  except  on  the  subject  of  his  art.  These  various 
considerations  will  lead  us  to  seek  elsewhere  than  in 
his  influence  the  causes  of  a  transformation,  of  which 
he  experienced  the  consequences  far  more  than  he 
brought  it  about  or  even  conceived  it.  The  trans- 
formation which  is  effected  in  French  literary  history 
between  1610  and  1630, — let  us  say  1636,  so  as  to  reach 
the  Cid  at  one  step, — is  the  work  of  the  Precieuses. 
All  that  is  remembered  in  general  of  the  Precieuses  is 

II. — Irregulars  and  Libertines. 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — Leonard!  Lessii,   De  providentia   numinis    et 
ammi  Immortalitate  libri  duo  adversus  athcos  et  politicos,  Antwerp, 
1613  ; — Garasse,  La  doctrine  curieuse  des  Beaux  Esprits  de  ce  temps, 
Paris,    1623 ; — Tallemant    des    Beaux,     Historiettes,    articles     DES 
BARREAUX,  LUILLIER,  PRINCESSE  PALATINE,  etc. ; — Bossuet,  Oraison 
funebre   d'Anne  de  Gonzague  ; — Bayle's  Dictionnaire,  articles  DES 
BARREAUX,  HESNAULT,  and  passim  ; — the  works  of  Theophile  de  Viau, 
Saint-Evremond,  and  La   Motte   le  Vayer ; — the    Caracteres   of  La 
Bruyere. 

Sainte-Beuve's  Port-Eoyal ; — Victor  Cousin,  Vanini,  ses  ecrits, 
sa  vie  et  sa  mort,  in  the  Revue  des  deux  Mondes,  December  1, 
1843 ; — Ch.  Bartholorness,  Giordano  Bruno,  Paris,  1847  ; — F.  Fioren- 
tino,  Benardino  Telesio,  ossia  studi  storici  sulV  Idea  della  natura 
nel  risorgimento,  Florence,  1874  ; — Alleaume's  Notice  preceding  the 
works  of  Theophile,  Paris,  1856 ; — T.  Perrens,  Lea  Libertins  au 
XVIP  siecle,  Paris,  1896 ; — Kathe  Schermacher,  Theophile  de  Viau, 
sein  Leben  und  seine  WerTce,  Paris,  1898. 

2.  OF  THE  LIBERTINES  IN  GENERAL. — Signification  of  this  name  in 
the  seventeenth  century ; — and  that  it  applies  as  much  to  "  freedom  of 
thinking"  as  to  "license  of  morals."     That  from  both  a  philosophical 
and  a  literary  point  of  view  the  libertines  are  belated  survivors  of 
Montaigne's  century; — and  the   "Bohemians"  of  their  time; — but 
that  this  in   no  way  prevents    them    professing  very  pronounced 

9 


114     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

the  characteristics  by  which  they  lend  themselves  to 
ridicule,  and  it  must  be  owned  that  they  had  many  such, 
on  which  Moliere's  comedies  and  Boileau's  satires  will 
dispense  us  from  dilating  here.  They  might  be  re- 
proached more  especially  with  having  again  brought 
French  literature  under  the  influence  of  the  Spanish  and 
Italian  schools, — the  influence  of  Antonio  Perez  and 
the  Chevalier  Marin,  of  Guarini  and  Gongora, — always 
supposing,  however,  that  it  would  have  been  possible  for 
them  to  avoid  this  result,  at  a  Court  wholly  Italian,  and 
at  a  time  when  the  influence  of  Spain  was  reappearing 
in  France  across  a  frontier  open  to  its  inroads  at  every 
point.  Nevertheless,  the  Precieuses  rendered  us  great 

principles; — and  that  if  they  had  lacked  the  formula  for  these 
principles  it  would  have  been  supplied  them  by  Lessius  in  his  de 
Providentia,  and  by  Garasse,  Doctrine  curieuse  des  Beaux  Esprits. — 
That  as  disciples  of  Montaigne  and  even  of  Eabelais,  they  were 
naturally  hostile  to  almost  all  the  projects  of  the  Precieuses ; — which 
were  directed  indeed  against  the  libertines. 

3.  THEOPHILE  DE  VIAU  [Clairac,  1590  ;  f  1626,  Paris] . — His  early 
education ; — his  relations  with  des  Barreaux  and  Balzac ; — his  tragedy 
Pyrame  et  Tisbe,  1617  ; — and  that  it  is  a  better  work  than  the  two 
lines  which  have  immortalised  it  might  seem  to  indicate  : 

Ah !  behold  the  dagger  which  with  the  blood  of  its  owner 
Was  stained  in  cowardly  fashion ;  the  traitor  blushes  at  it ! 

There  are  lyric  passages  of  singular  vigour  in  this  tragedy ; — and  parts 
of  the  dialogue  are  already  almost  in  the  style  of  Corneille. — 
Other  works  of  his  deserve  to  be  remembered ; — for  their  animation 
[  The  Ode  du  Boi,  ed.  Alleaume,  L,  135]  ; — for  the  keen  feeling  for 
nature  they  evince  [The  Lettre  a  son  frere  (in  verse)  ii.  178]  ; — for  a 
certain  sensual  or  Epicurean  grace  [La  Solitude,  vol.  i.,  176] . — It  is  a 
pity  that  his  works  are  spoiled  by  lapses  into  the  most  offensive 
vulgarity. — See  too  his  Satires  [vol.  ii.,  pp.  238  and  241], — Whether  it 
was  his  Satires  or  his  Traite  de  V  Immortalite  de  Vame  and  his 
Parnasse  that  brought  about  his  first  banishment  in  1619  ? — Hence- 
forth the  poet's  life  is  entirely  upset ; — the  publication  of  the  book 


THE   NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     115 

services,  which  cannot  be  forgotten,  slighted,  or  over- 
looked without  falsifying  the  history  during  twenty  or 
thirty  years  of  manners  and  literature.  For  instance, 
because  they  were  women,  and  women  of  social  standing, 
they  rid  literature  of  the  pedantry  which  hampers  the 
works  of  Ronsard  and  even  of  Montaigne.  One  would 
be  tempted  to  say  at  times  that  Ronsard  and  Montaigne 
only  wrote  for  scholars.  Their  injudicious,  or  rather  their 
complacent  display  of  erudition  ;  their  perpetual  allusions 
to  an  antiquity  with  whose  scholiasts  and  grammarians 
we  are  not  familiar  as  they  were ;  their  naive,  and 
sometimes  indeed  their  rather  suspicious,  admiration 
for  the  "false  beauties"  of  Cicero  or  Seneca;  their 

of  Father  Garasse,  which  was  aimed  against  him,  deals  him  the 
final  blow; — he  is  put  on  his  trial;— he  is  sentenced  to  perpetual 
banishment  by  a  decree  dated  September  1,  1625. 

4.  THE  NEW  TACTICS  OF  THE  LIBERTINES. — From  this  moment  the 
Libertines   change  their  tactics. — They  keep   their   opinions  ; — but 
henceforth  they  abstain  from  expressing  them  in  public ;  or  if  they 
express  them,  they  moderate  and  disguise  them,  as  did  Saint  Evre- 
mond   and   La  Mothe  le   Vayer. — Their   convictions   are  not   deep 
enough  for  them  to   endeavour  to  assure  their  triumph  in  oppo- 
sition to  public  opinion ; — and  provided  they  are  allowed   to  live 
as  they  think  fit,  they   will  not   ask   for  more. — This   attitude   is 
the  indirect  cause  of  the  discredit  into  which  they  fell ; — and  from 
which  they  will   scarcely  recover  until   half  a  century  later  with 
Bayle. 

5.  THE  WORKS. — Of  Theophile  we  have :  his  Poems  [Odes,  Stanzas, 
Elegies,   Sonnets,    Satires]  ; — a    tragedy :    Pyrame    et    Tisbe ;— his 
Letters  ; — and  the  Traite  de  VImmortalite  de  I'Ame,   a  paraphrase 
of  Phedon  in  prose  interspersed  with  verse.     In  addition,  there  are 
a  few  detached  pieces  relating  to  his  trial.     The  best  and  most  com- 
plete edition  is  that  to  which  we  have  referred  of  M.  AHeaume  in  the 
Bibliotheque  Elzevirienne,  Paris,  1896. 

The  best  edition  of  Saint-Evremond  is  the  Amsterdam  edition, 
1739,  Covens  and  Mortier,  7  vols.  in  8vo  ;  and  of  La  Mothe  le  Vayer, 
the  Dresden  edition,  1749,  published  by  Michel  Groell,  7  vols.  in  8vo, 
issued  in  fourteen  volumes. 


116     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

habit  of  never  making  an  assertion  without  supporting  it 
on  the  authority  of  an  ancient  writer ;  these  various 
practices,  while  they  may  dazzle  our  ignorance  for  a  time, 
end  before  very  long  in  tiring  us,  in  trying  our  patience, 
and,  to  be  frank,  in  boring  us.  It  is  disagreeable  to  us 
that  a  poet  should  bind  himself  down  to  a  perpetual  com- 
mentary of  Mark  Antony  Muret  or  of  Peter  Marcassus ; 
and  we  do  not  wish  to  have  to  learn  Latin  as  a  pre- 
liminary to  understanding  a  French  book.  Such,  at  any 
rate,  was  the  feeling  of  the  Precieuses,  and  their  attitude 
explains  how  it  was,  that  by  merely  playing  their  part 
and  taking  an  interest  in  literature,  they  at  once  obliged 
the  writer  to  shake  off  the  dust  of  his  library.  They 

III.— Alexandra  Hardy  [Paris,  1570;  f  1631,  Paris]. 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — The    brothers    Parfaict,   Histoire    du    theatre 
francais ; — Ad.  Ebert,  EntwicJcelungsgeschichte,  etc.,  already  cited 
above,  pp.  71  and  73  ; — Edelestand  du  Meril,  Evolution  de  la  tragedie 
francaise,  etc. ; — E.  Lombard,  Etude  sur  Alexandre  Hardy  in  the 
ZeitscTirift  fiir  neufranzosiche  Literatur,  vols.  i.  and  ii.,  1880-1881; 
— Eugene  Blgal,  Alexandre  Hardy  et  le  theatre  francais,  Paris,  1889. 

2.  THE  SECOND  PERIOD  OF  FRENCH  DRAMA.— Alexandre  Hardy  may 
be  accounted  one  of  the  "  irregular"  or  "  belated  "  writers  who  con- 
tinue the  literary  traditions  of  the  preceding   age. — The  "  strolling 
player  "  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  [Of.  Scarron's 
Roman    comique ;    S.    Chappuzeau,  Le   tJiedtre  franqais ;    and    H. 
Chardon,  La  Troupe  du  Roman  comique,  Le  Mans,  1876]. — The  state 
of  the  theatre  towards  1610.— Material  organisation,  actors  and  spec- 
tators   [Cf.   especially  Eugene   Eigal,    loc.   cit.   and  his    brochure : 
Esquisse  d'une  histoire  des  Theatres  de  Paris  de  1548  a  1653,  Paris, 
1887]. — The  incredible  fertility  of  Alexandre  Hardy. — Of  the  struggle 
for  predominance  between  the  different  forms  of  drama  as  seen  in  the 
pieces  of  Alexandre  Hardy. — The  saying  of  Aristotle  :  Tpay^ia,  TroXXag 
jueraSoXdg  /j.tTa€a\ovffa,  «7rei  avrijg  n)v  Qvcriv  tcr^e,  iiravGaro. — Pastorals, 
tragedies  and  tragi-comedies. — That  in  literary  history  as  in  nature, 
the  competition  is  the  keener  in  proportion  as  the  species  are  more 
nearly  related. — Growing  confusion  between  the  art  of  the  drama  and 
the  art  of  romance; — and  that  the  "father  of  the  French  drama" 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FEENCH  LITERATUEE     117 

compelled  him  to  comply  with  some  of  the  exigencies 
of  their  sex,  and  the  result  was  that  a  literature,  which 
before  had  been  purely  erudite,  adopted  forthwith  the 
tone  of  polite  society. 

This  change  was  consummated,  almost  simultaneously 
and  again  in  consequence  of  the  influence  of  the 
Precieuses,  by  literature  acquiring  an  air,  it  had  hitherto 
lacked,  of  decency  and  politeness.  Besides  claiming  the 
liberty  of  indulging  their  humour  without  restraint,  the 
libertines  and  irregulars  of  the  regency  had  asserted  no 
less  stoutly  their  right  to  remain  faithful  to  the  worst 
traditions  and  habits  of  the  Gallic  genius.  They  wished 
to  be  coarse,  cynical,  and  shameless  to  the  top  of  their 

entirely  failed  to  make  for  clearness  ; — if  in  all  respects  save  one  his 
tragedies  are  less  modern  than  those  of  Robert  Garnier. — Their  utter 
lack  of  literary  merit. — They  bear  about  the  same  relation  to  classic 
tragedy  as  the  melodramas  of  Guilbert  de  Pixerecourt  will  one  day 
bear  to  the  romantic  drama  of  1830. — That  to  see  any  interest  in  his 
plays  they  must  be  considered  as  "  experimental "  efforts  to  determine 
the  laws  or  conditions  of  the  drama  of  the  future ; — and  also  as  evidence 
of  the  recrudescence  of  Spanish  and  Italian  influences. 

That  from  this  standpoint,  Alexandre  Hardy  must  be  allowed  the 
merit,  and  it  is  a  real  merit,  of  having  transformed  a  college  amuse- 
ment into  a  public  representation. — He  also  essayed  to  differentiate 
tragi-comedy  from  tragedy. — Digression  in  this  connection  :  on  what 
depends  the  difference  between  the  two  branches? — It  would  seem 
to  depend  on  the  social  status  of  the  personages ; — on  the  nature 
of  the  denouement ; — and  of  the  reality  of  the  personages  taken  from 
history. — Was  Hardy  alive  to  the  importance  of  history  in  tragedy  ? 

3.  THE  WORKS. — We  know  of  forty-one  plays  by  Hardy.  They 
include  :  an  interminable  tragi-comedy,  TJieagene  et  Chariclee,  based 
upon  the  romance  of  Heliodorus,  in  eight  "  days  "  ; — eleven  tragedies 
borrowed  from  antiquity,  with  among  them  a  Didon,  a  Mariamna 
and  an  Alexandre ; — twelve  tragi-comedies,  on  ancient  and  modern 
subjects,  imitated  from  the  Spanish  or  Italian,  Gesippe,  Fhraarte, 
Cornelie,  La  Force  du  sang,  Felismene,  La  Belle  Egyptienne ; — 
and  finally  five  Pastorals ;  —and  five  mythological  pieces,  including 
an  Alceste  and  an  Ariane. 


118     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

bent.  There  were  to  be  no  concessions  to  woman,  whose 
mission,  as  in  the  case  of  Mine  de  Montaigne,  was  held 
to  be  limited  to  keeping  house  for  her  husband,  to  bear- 
ing him  children,  to  perpetuating  his  race  or — as  happened 
to  the  Cassandre  and  the  Marie  of  Konsard,  the  Francine 
of  Ba'if,  the  Hippolyte  of  Desportes — to  serving  as  an 
instrument  of  pleasure  or  a  stepping-stone  to  literary 
fame.  The  Precieuses  demanded  that  men  should  accord 
them  the  respect  to  which  every  woman,  as  a  woman,  is 
entitled  in  civilised  society ;  and  they  gained  their  end. 
No  doubt  it  would  be  easy  to  point  to  passages  even  in 
Balzac  or  Voiture  of  which  the  indecency,  the  naive 
crudity  and  the  bad  taste  are  astonishing.  Still,  in  a 

The  best  and  only  modern  edition  of  Alexandre  Hardy's  plays  is 
M.  Stengel's,  5  vols.  in  18mo,  Marburg,  1883,  1884,  Elwert. 

IV.— Franc. ois  de  Malherbe  [Caen,  1555;  +  1628,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Racan,  Vie  de  Malherbe,  printed  in  most  editions 
of   Malherbe's   works ;    Godeau,  Discours  sur  Ics  ceuvres  de  M.  de 
Malherbe,  preceding  the  edition  of  1666. — Malherbe's  Letters. — Bayle's 
Dictionnaire,  article  MALHERBE  ; — Sainte-Beuve,    Tableau  la  poesie 
francaise  ;  Causeries  du  Lundi,  vol.  viii.  ;    and  Nouveaux  Lundis, 
vol.  xiii. ; — G.  Allais,  Malherbe  et  la  poesie  franq  aise  a  la  fin  du  XVP 
siecle,   Paris,  1891 ; — F.    Brunot,   La  doctrine   de   Malherbe,   Paris, 
1891 ; — V.  Bourienne,    Points    obscurs    et    nouveaux   de    la   vie  de 
Malherbe,  Paris  1895  ;— Due  de  Broglie,  Malherbe,  Paris,  1897. 

2.  THE  MAN,  THE  POET,  AND  THE  REFORMER. 

A.  That  Malherbe,  in  spite  of  the  disdain  with  which  lie  affected 
to  regard  his  predecessors,  did  not  differ  from  them  to  the  extent  that 
has   been  alleged. — His   general    conception   of    poetry  is    that    of 
Ronsard  ; — and  the  resemblance  between  them  extends  to  matters  of 
detail; — he  makes  "  conceits"  as  Ronsard  did ;— like  Ronsard,  he  draws 
upon  mythology  and  to  an  abusive  extent  [Cf .  Stances  a  M.  du  Perier ; 
— Ode  a  Marie  de  Medicis  ; — Stances  sur  le  depart  de  Louis  XIIIJ]  ; — 
and  finally  his  sentiments,  as  were  those  of  Ronsard,  are  often  Pagan 
[Cf.  Consolation  a  Caritee}. — Of  some  anecdotes  told  of  him,  which 
support  this  latter  assertion  [Cf.  Tallemant  des  Reaux,  L,  287, 290, 284]. 

B.  That  lie  lacks,  or  only  possesses  in  an  indifferent  degree,  the 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE      119 

general  way,  the  influence  of  the  Precieuses  tended  to 
purify,  or  if  the  expression  be  preferred,  to  polish  litera- 
ture and  even  manners.  Neither  Mme  de  Rambouillet, 
"  the  incomparable  Arthenice,"  nor  her  daughter  Julie 
d'Angennes,  so  patiently  wooed  by  Montausier,  nor  the 
many  gracious  women  whose  training  was  effected  by 
the  conversations  of  the  famous  "  blue  chamber,"  permit 
the  naked  image  to  be  thrust  on  them,  in  social  converse 
or  in  books,  of  what  each  of  us  endeavours  to  hide  in  real, 
everyday  life.  There  are  acts  that  cannot  be  talked  of, 
and  not  all  that  is  talked  of  can  be  written  about.  For 
the  future  it  is  incumbent  on  men  to  have  regard  to  social 
considerations,  to  the  season  or  the  circumstances,  to  age 

qualities  which  make  the  poet,  but  he  has  the  qualities  of  an  excellent 
versifier. — It  would  be  impossible  to  be  more  deficient  than  he  is  in 
enthusiasm  ; — the  saying  of  Cavalier  Marin. — His  want  of  imagina- 
tion.— Mythology,  which  with  Ronsard  is  still  instinct  with  life, 
becomes  a  mere  "tool"  with  Malherbe  ; — and  the  metaphors  he 
derives  from  it  are  not  the  expression  of  his  emotion,  but  simply  serve 
as  ornaments  to  his  theme. — His  want  of  sensibility. — It  is  the  life 
and  still  more  the  variety  imparted  by  sensibility,  when  it  is  keen, 
that  is  lacking  in  his  Odes. — Finally  his  want  of  naturalness. — On  the 
other  hand,  he  posesses  the  sense  of  logical  development ; — that 
of  oratorical  harmony ; — a  taste  for  work  well  done. — His  theories 
as  to  the  importance  and  the  "  richness  "  of  rhyme  : — his  strict  regard 
for  grammar  [Cf.  Eacan,  Vie  de  Malherbe']  ;— and  that  in  view  of  this 
characteristic  it  is  strange  that  the  Banvilles  and  Gautiers  of  con- 
temporary French  poetry  should  not  have  recognised  that  he  is 
their  true  ancestor. 

C.  That  while  the  very  nature  of  the  lessons  inculcated  by  Mal- 
herbe explains  their  influence,  he  is  none  the  greater  as  a  writer  on 
that  account. — His  ideal,  as  was  the  case  with  that  of  Eonsard  as  he 
grew  older,  tended  towards  the  entire  elimination  of  the  personal 
element  from  lyricism ; — and  in  consequence  to  transform  lyricism 
into  oratorical  verse  [Cf.  Stances  au  roi  Henri  le  Grand  partant 
pour  le  Limousin]. — This  transformation  responded  exactly  to  the 
taste  of  the  time ; — and  it  had  been  effected,  moreover,  by  Bertaut 
and  the  Cardinal  du  Perron  in  some  of  their  poems  [Cf.  the  Eecueil 


120     MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

and  to  sex.  As  a  consequence,  the  situation  of  women 
is  at  once  improved  to  a  notable  extent.  Henceforth 
they  will  have  to  be  taken  into  account,  their  modesty 
will  be  respected,  they  will  be  treated  as  equals.  And 
should  any  belated  survivor  of  another  century  be  in- 
capable of  this  self-restraint,  he  may  fall  back  upon  the 
taverns,  and  rhyme  his  Bacchic  verses  and  his  coarse 
songs  amid  men  companions  at  the  Pomme  de  Pin  or  the 
Mouton  Blanc. 

The  refinement  of  language  accompanies  the  polishing 
of  manners,  and  were  I  not  afraid  of  seeming  to  play 
upon  words,  I  should  be  disposed  to  say  that  "politeness" 
and  "polish"  are  matters  that  go  naturally  together. 

des  plus  beaux  vers  de  ce  temps,  1606]  ; — Malherbe  accomplished 
nothing  else,  but  he  did  the  work  better.  [Cf.  the  Sonnet  sur  la  Mort 
de  son  fils  ; — the  Ode  sur  Vattentat  de  1605  ; — the  Ode  a  M.  de  Belle- 
garde.] — That  in  consequence  it  should  rather  be  said  that  he  wit- 
nessed than  that  he  realised  the  reform  with  which  his  name  is 
connected  ; — besides,  the  first  collected  edition  of  his  poems,  which 
had  been  scattered  previously,  did  not  appear  until  1630  ; — that  he 
does  not  appear  to  have  left  any  disciples  rightly  so-called,  if  the  only 
two  that  can  be  named  are  Maynard  and  Eacan  ; — and  that  the 
budding  Academy  criticised  his  masterpiece,  the  Stances  de  1605,  as 
severely  as  it  did  the  Cid  itself. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  works  of  Malherbe  are  composed  :  (1)  of  his 
Poems,  in  all  125  pieces,  the  first  of  which  :  Les  Larmes  de  saint 
Pierre,  appeared  in  1587  ;  and  the  last,  Les  Vers  funebres  sur  la 
mort  d'Henri  le  Grand,  and  the  Invective  contre  le  marechal 
d'Ancre : 

Va-t-en  a  la  malheure,  excrement  de  la  terre, 

not  until  the  edition  of  1630  ; — (2)  of  his  Commentaire  sur  Desportes, 
which  was  not  published  until  1825  ; — (3)  of  his  translations  of  the 
23rd  Book  of  Livy,  1621  ;  of  the  De  beneficiis  ;  and  of  Seneca's 
letters  to  Lucilius,  1637,  1638,  1639 ; — (4)  of  his  Correspondence,  of 
great  interest  for  the  history  of  Marie  de  Medicis'  regency. 

We  may  mention  among  the  editions  of  Malherbe  subsequent  to 
the  first,  which  was  issued  in  1630  by  Charles  Chappelain : — the 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE     121 

Refinement  in  words  follows  on  that  in  habits,  and  the 
choice  of  ideas  induces  the  choice  of  terms.  In  conse- 
quence, the  triumph  of  preciosity  was  the  starting  point 
of  a  linguistic  revolution ;  a  result,  indeed,  to  which  all 
that  was  achieved  by  preciosity  has  been  too  often  and 
wrongly  restricted.  Many  historians  of  literature  would 
confine  the  role  of  the  Precieuses  to  having  struck  certain 
words  out  of  the  vocabulary,  to  having  introduced  others, 
and  more  especially  to  having  replaced  the  habitual  use 
of  the  proper,  straightforward,  and  exact  term  by  the 
employment  of  the  metaphor.  And  I  admit  that  they 
accomplished  all  this  !  But  what  is  perhaps  more  in- 
teresting, and  in  any  case  more  important,  than  to 

edition  of  1666,  published  by  Thomas  Joli,  and  containing  the 
observations  of  Menage  ; — the  edition  of  1757,  published  by  Barbou, 
Paris  ; — Charpentier's  edition,  1842,  containing  Andre  Chenier's  com- 
mentaries ;  and  Lalanne's  edition,  Paris,  1862,  Hachette. 

V.— Jean-LouiS  Guez  de  Balzac  [Angouleme,  1594  ;  f  1654, 
Angouleme]. 

1.  THE   SOURCES. — Ogier,  Apologie  pour  M.  de  Balzac,   1627  ; — 
Goulu,  Lettres  de  Phyllarque  a  Ariste,  1628 ; — Balzac  himself  "pro 
domo  sua  "  in  his  Entretiens  :  Relation  a  Menandre  (Maynard),  and 
the   Passages   defendus  ; — Cassagne's   preface   to   the   great   edition 
of  Balzac's  works,  1665  ; — Niceron,  Hommes  illustres,  vol.  xxiii.  ; — 
Bayle's  Dictionnaire  ; — d'Olivet,  Histoire  de  V Academic. 

Bcederer,  Memoire  pour  servir  a  VJiistoire  de  la  societe  polie  ; — 
Sainte-Beuve,  Port-Royal,  appendix  to  vol.  ii.,  Balzac  le  Grand 
Epistolier ; — F.  Lotheisen,  Geschichte  des  franzosischen  Literatur, 
vol.  i.,  pp.  165-201,  Vienna,  1877. 

2.  BALZAC'S  INFLUENCE. — Of  the  privilege  of  poetry,  and  that  it  is 
the  sole  explanation  of  the  fact  that  Malherbe's  reputation  has  out- 
lasted that  of  Balzac. — Admiration  of  his  contemporaries :  testimony 
of  Descartes  [V.  Cousin's  edition,  vol.  vi.,  p.  189]  ; — of  Bossuet  \_Sur  le 
style  et  la  lecture  des  ecrivains  pour  former  un  orateur,  in  Floquet's 
Etudes,  vol.  ii.]  ;  --of  Boileau  {Reflexions  sur  Longin,  vol.  vii.] — The 
influence  of  Balzac  was  far  more  considerable  than  that  of  Malherbe, 


122     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

enumerate  here  the  sundry  words  or  locutions  for  whose 
introduction  they  were  responsible,  is  to  arrive  at  the 
reasons  which  determined  the  choice  of  these  particular 
words  and  locutions.  We  referred  to  them  above.  There 
are  acts  which  are  ignoble  in  themselves,  and  of  this 
nature  are  in  general  all  of  our  acts  that  are  to  be  traced 
to  our  animal  origin :  the  words  that  serve  to  designate 
them  share  their  ignominy  and  baseness,  or  it  should  rather 
be  said,  perhaps,  that  they  heighten  these  characteristics, 
owing  to  the  debasing  intention  that  attaches  to  their 
use.  There  are  other  acts,  walking  or  sitting  down  for 
example,  that  have  no  significance  good  or  bad,  and  in 
consequence  the  terms  that  render  them  are  equally 

with  which  it  was  almost  contemporary  ; — in  a  certain  sense  too  it 
was  happier,  as  it  had  not  been  forced  to  accomplish  a  work  of 
destruction  to  enable  it  to  exert  itself. — At  the  same  time  it  tended 
in  the  same  direction  ; — and  though  they  may  mutually  have  spoken 
ill  of  one  another,  they  nevertheless  had  the  same  disciples  and  the 
same  admirers. 

Of  the  principal  qualities  which  his  contemporaries  admired  in 
Balzac  ;— (1)  The  purity  of  his  elocution  ; — -definition  of  this  word, 
and  that  it  implies  the  choice,  the  appropriateness,  and  the  charm  of 
terms. — (2)  The  harmony  of  his  phraseology  and  sentences  [Cf.  Cas- 
sagne's  Preface  and  Godeau's  Discours  sur  Malherbe~\. — The  boldness, 
appositeness,  and  abundance  of  hi?  metaphors. — Whether  Balzac  was 
in  this  respect  an  imitator  of  the  Spaniards  ; — and  in  this  connection 
of  the  influence  of  Antonio  Perez  [Cf.  Philarete  Chasles,  Etudes  sur 
le  XVI''  siecle,  and  de  Puibusque,  Histoire  comparee  des  Litteratures 
francaise  et  espagnole~\.—K  remark  of  Cassagne  :  "  M.  de  Balzac,"  he 
says,  "  is  always  happy  in  the  choice  of  his  metaphors,  and  having 
chosen  them  he  does  not  fail  to  abide  bij  them." — To  these  natural  or 
acquired  qualities  must  be  added  that  of  never  neglecting  to  turn 
them  to  account  [Cf.  the"  letter  to  Costar  on  the  subject  of  "the 
higher  eloquence  "]. 

That  the  principal  defect  which  spoils  Balzac's  qualities  is  due  less 
to  their  exaggeration  than  to  his  lack  of  ideas.— A  just  remark  of 
Boileau, — to  the  effect  that  in  giving  his  attention  more  particularly 
to  letter  writing,  Balzac  erred  as  to  the  suitability  of  the  epistolary 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FEENCH   LITEEATURE      123 

wanting  in  significance.  On  the  other  hand  there  are 
noble  acts,  such  as  that  of  self-sacrifice,  or,  without 
going  so  far,  such  as  all  acts  which  constitute  a 
victory  of  the  mind  over  the  body,  of  the  will  over 
instinct,  of  civilisation  over  nature ;  and  the  nobility 
of  these  acts  is  communicated  to  the  words,  and  so 
to  speak  to  the  very  syllables  that  express  them. 
There  is  therefore  a  standard  by  which  even  custom 
is  judged,  whatever  may  have  been  said  to  the  contrary. 
Our  character  is  revealed  by  our  manners,  which  in 
turn  are  betokened  by  our  words  even  more  than  by 
our  actions  ;  a  race  or  a  nation  betrays  itself  by  the 
character  of  the  language  it  speaks  ;  and  finally  a  period 

style  to  his  talent. — This  mistake  is  clearly  seen  when  his  Treatises 
or  his  Dissertations  are  compared  with  the  Letters  proper. — That  even 
in  these  Treatises  themselves  he  lacks  experience  to  some  extent  of 
the  matter  he  discusses ; — his  politics  are  essentially  "bookish"; — 
and  his  philosophy  was  forged  entirely  in  his  study. — Still,  neither 
Pascal  [Cf.  Le  Prince,  p.  27,  in  the  edition  of  1665],  nor  Bossuet 
[Cf.  Socrate  Chretien,  pp.  239,  240],  seems  to  have  read  him  without 
profit. — But  it  was  more  particularly  by  Corneille  that  he  was  studied 
[Cf.  the  four  Dissertations politiques  addressed  to  Mme  de  Rambouillet, 
sur  les  Remains  and  sur  la  gloire\. 

In  consequence,  in  spite  of  all  his  defects,  he  may  be  said  to  have 
done  something  more  for  the  French  genius  than  to  "  coach  it  in 
rhetoric,"  according  to  Sainte-Beuve's  expression. — He  was  acquainted 
with  the  sources  and,  as  the  ancients  said,  with  the  "  topics  "  of  lofty 
eloquence ; — on  more  than  one  occasion  he  displayed  a  sufficiently 
exact  and  practised  critical  sense  [Cf.  his  estimates  of  Eonsard  and 
Montaigne]  ; — and  finally  he  always  strove  after  elevation. — That  for 
all  these  reasons  his  personality  is  a  considerable  one  in  our  literary 
history. — He  has  had  many  followers  and  many  imitators  ; — the 
transformation  of  lyricism  into  oratorical  prose  was  completed  in  his 
writings ; — and  his  chief  error,  which  he  shared  with  all  his  con- 
temporaries, merely  consisted  in  his  having  believed  that  the  object 
of  art  is  to  adorn  nature  with  a  view  to  making  it  more  beautiful. — 
The  means  by  which  this  end  may  be  attained  ought  to  be  studied, 
but  with  the  intention  of  having  recourse  to  them  as  little  as 


124     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

is  characterised  by  the  choice  of  its  words  and  the  turn 
of  its  phrases. 

The  merit  of  the  Precieuses  is  to  have  been  conscious 
of  these  truths.  Their  mode  of  expression  was  the  exact 
counterpart  of  their  manner  of  thinking ;  and  they  ought 
to  be  judged  from  the  psychological  rather  than  from  the 
linguistic  or  philological  point  of  view.  Their  efforts  to 
refine  or  to  reform  the  language  were  not,  as  was  the 
case  with  the  poets  of  the  Pleiad,  their  principal  concern, 
but  were  only  a  secondary  undertaking  entered  on  because 
they  had  perceived  that  the  reform  of  literary  habitudes 
could  only  be  effected  by  the  reform  of  the  language. 
Doubtless  while  endeavouring  to  attain  their  end  by  all 

possible  ; — and  taking  care  to  adapt  them  to  the  theme  and  to 
circumstances. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  works  of  Balzac  are  composed :  (1)  of  27 
books  of  Letters,  of  which  the  earlier  appeared  in  1624,  and  the  last 
after  his  death.  Six  books  of  these  Letters  are  addressed  to  Chape- 
lain  and  four  to  Conrart.  All  or  almost  all  of  them  are  of  great 
interest  for  the  literary  history  of  the  period. — (2)  Of  his  Entretiens 
or  Dissertations,  of  which  there  are  67,  divided  into :  Christian  and 
Moral  Dissertations,  25  ; — Political  Dissertations,  14  ; — Critical 
Dissertations,  28.  [The  Relation  a  Menandre  and  Les  Passages 
defendus,  in  which  he  defends  himself  against  the  attacks  of  Father 
Goulu,  the  author  of  the  Lettres  de  Phyllarque  a  Ariste,  form  part 
of  the  Christian  Dissertations.  The  three  dissertations  on  the 
Romans  form  the  first  three  Political  Dissertations.] — In  addition 
there  are :  (3)  The  Treatises,  that  is :  Le  Prince,  1631 ; — Le  Barbon, 
1648 ; — Socrate  Chretien,  1652 ; — and  Aristippe,  1658.  And  in  con- 
clusion :  (4)  a  series  of  letters  in  Latin. 

The  best  editions  of  Balzac's  works  are : — the  edition  formed  by 
combining  the  six  volumes  printed  by  the  Elzeviers  either  at  Leyden 
or  at  Amsterdam,  and  adding  Socrate  Chretien ; — and  the  standard 
edition  of  1665,  in  2  vols.  in  folio,  Paris,  published  by  Louis 
Billaine. 

There  are  no  modern  editions,  unless  a  "selection"  of  Balzac's 
writings,  edited  by  M.  Moreau,  Paris,  1854,  Lecoflre,  be  counted  as 
such. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE     125 

the  means  at  their  disposal,  they  did  not  resist  the  desire 
or  the  temptation  to  distinguish  themselves  from  the 
crowd,  to  form  coteries  amongst  themselves,  and,  as  the 
saying  is,  to  be  "  peculiar."  However,  if  among  the  ways 
of  being  peculiar  there  be  one  that  is  assuredly  excusable, 
and  even  in  some  respects  legitimate,  is  it  not  that  which 
consists  in  desiring  to  feel,  think,  and  act  more  nobly, 
more  delicately,  and  with  more  refinement  than  other 
people  ?  To  this  ambition  is  to  be  ascribed  the  vogue  of 
such  very  different  productions  as  the  trifling  verse  of 
Voiture,  among  which  there  is  much  that  is  charming; 
the  Letters  or  the  Treatises  of  Balzac ;  and  the  romances 
of  Gomberville  and  Gombaud,  Endymion  and  Polexandre 


VI.— Claude  Favre  de  Vaugelas  [Meximieux  (Ain),  1585; 
f  1650,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Niceron,  Hommes  illustres,  vol.  xix. ; — Pellison 
et  d'Olivet,  Histoire  de  V Academic  francaise  ; — Goujet,  Bibliotheque 
francaise,   vol.   i. ; — Abbe  Lambert,  Histoire  litteraire  du  siecle  de 
Louis  XIV.,  vol.  iii. 

Moncourt,  De  la  methode  grammaticale  de  Vaugelas,  Paris,  1851 ; — 
Sayous,  Litterature  frangaise  a  Vetranger,  Paris  and  Geneva,  1853, 
vol.  i.,  ch.  3  and  4; — Sainte-Beuve,  Nouveaux  Lundis,  vol.  vi. ; — 
Chassang,  Notice  preceding  his  edition  of  the  Remarques  sur  la  langue 
franqaise,  Paris  and  Versailles,  1880. 

2.  THE    BOLE    OF    VAUGELAS. — Vaugelas'    birth    and    early  sur- 
roundings ; — and  in  this  connection  a  few  remarks  on  the   subject 
of  the  Academy  of  Florimon. — Vaugelas'  father :    Antoine  Favre ; — 
his  relation  with  Fra^ois  de  Sales  and  Honore  d'Urfe. — Vaugelas, 
a  tutor  to  the  Carignan  family. 

Importance  of  his  book  Remarques  sur  la  langue  francaise. — By 
affirming  that  language  is  governed  by  usage,  Vaugelas  shielded  the 
evolution  of  language  from  the  caprices  of  individual  taste ; — by 
drawing  a  distinction  between  good  and  bad  usage,  he  divided  off 
the  language  of  the  "  court "  from  that  of  the  "  street-porters  of  the 
Port  aufoin"  ; — and  by  making  the  usage  prevailing  in  the  spoken 
language  the  standard  of  usage  in  the  written  language,  he  gave  the 
classic  language  its  essential  character,  which  is  that  of  being  a 


126     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

for  example.  A  further  reason  of  this  vogue  is  that 
while  the  great  letter  writer  is  at  pains  to  hit  on  expres- 
sions and  turns  of  phrase  the  grandiloquence  of  which 
shall  be  in  keeping  with  what  is  termed  around  him 
the  "grand  gout"  (or  it  may  perhaps  be  translated  the 
"best  taste"),  his  fellow  writers,  the  novelists,  attempt 
psychological  observation  and  analysis  in  their  intermin- 
able narratives. 

We  are  under  yet  another  obligation  to  the  Precieuses  : 
the  conversation  cultivated  in  their  salons,  besides  in- 
creasing the  suppleness  and  fluency  of  the  language, 
made  for  intellectual  refinement.  The  evolution  of  the 
sentiments  or  the  passions  is  studied  with  closer  attention 

spoken  language. — Digression  in  this  connection ; — and  that  Bossuet, 
Moliere,  Saint-Simon,  and  how  many  others  will  write  as  "  they  will 
speak." — This  being  the  case,  the  greater  part  of  the  blunders  and 
licenses  with  which  grammarians  reproach  them  cease  at  once  to  be 
of  any  account ; — this  circumstance  also  explains  the  inner  qualities 
of  the  classic  language ; — its  vivacious  clearness ; — its  briskness  and 
naturalness. — The  scruples  of  Vaugelas ; — and  that  they  concord 
with  those  of  Balzac ; — and  with  the  teachings  of  Malherbe. — 
Bossuet's  saying  to  the  effect  "  that  nothing  eternal  is  entrusted  to 
the  keeping  of  languages  that  are  always  changing  " ; — and,  in  this 
connection,  of  the  comparison  between  a  language  and  an  organism. 
— That  there  is  a  distinction  between  "  immobilising  "  a  language  (or 
shutting  the  door  against  all  change)  and  ''  fixing  "  it  (or  giving  it 
stability  as  far  as  essentials  are  concerned) ; — that  Vaugelas'  object  was 
to  "  fix  "  the  current  usage ; — and  in  what  measure  he  was  successful 
[Cf.  Haase,  Obert's  trans.,  Syntaxe  du  XVII''  siecle,  Paris,  1898] . 

Vaugelas  at  the  Hotel  Rambouillet, — and  at  the  French  Academy. 
Rejoinders  provoked  by  his  Remarques. — La  Mothe  le  Vayer's  opuscule 
dealing  with  the  Remarques  sur  la  langue  franqaise. — P.  Bouhours' 
estimate  of  Vaugelas  [Cf.  Entretiens  d'Ariste  et  d1  Eugene], 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Remarques  sur  la  langue  franqaise,  Paris,  1647, 
in  4to ; — and  Quinte  Curce  :  de  la  vie  et  des  actions  d'Alexandre  le 
Grand,  translated  by  A.  Favre  de  Vaugelas,  Paris,  1653,  in  4to. 

We  have  referred  above  to  the  excellent  modern  edition  of  the 
Remarques  edited  by  M.  A.  Chassang  (1880). 


THE   NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     127 

till  an  inkling  is  obtained  of  a  number  of  their  finer  shades, 
of  which  there  is  no  indication  that  the  "ancients"  had 
any  idea,  nor  even  the  writers  of  the  preceding  generation. 
Is  it  not  essential  that  the  notions  conveyed  by  these 
nice  distinctions  should  be  analysed  or,  to  use  a  better 
expression,  be  "  dissected,"  if  only  with  a  view  to  an 
improved  classification  of  the  terms  of  politeness  and 
good  manners  ?  What  constitutes  elevation  ?  To  decide 
the  matter  it  must  be  carefully  examined.  The  result  is 
that,  thanks  to  preciosity,  appropriate  expression  and 
delicate  analysis  are  introduced  simultaneously  into  con- 
versation. The  interest  of  society  in  grammar  and 
politeness  has  extended  imperceptibly  to  psychology. 

VII.— Pierre  Corneille  [Rouen,  1606 ;  f  1685,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES.' — -Bibliographie  Cornelienne  ou  description 
raisonnee  .  .  .  des  ouvrages  relatifs  a  Corneille  et  a  ses  ecrits,  by  M. 
Emile  Picot,  Paris,  1876 ;— Fontenelle,  Vie  de  Corneille,  1685,  1729, 
1742 ; — Thomas  Corneille,  Dictionnaire  geographique,  article  ROUEN  ; 
— Goujet,  Bibliotheque  francaise,  vol.  xviii. ; — F.  Guizot,  Corneille 
et  son  temps,  1st  edition,  1813,  last  edition,  1852 ; — Taschereau,  His- 
toire  de  la  vie  et  des  ouvrages  de  Pierre  Corneille,  1829  and  1855 ; — 
Marty-Laveaux,  Notice  preceding  his  edition  of  Corneille's  Works, 
Paris,  1862 ; — F.  Bouquet,  Les  Points  obscurs  de  la  vie  de  Corneille, 
Paris,  1888. 

Corneille  :  Discours  and  his  "  Examinations  "  of  his  own  tragedies. 
— Granet,  Recueil  de  dissertations  surplusieurs  tragedies  de  Corneille 
et  de  Racine,  Paris,  1740,  Gisseqet  Bordelet ; — Voltaire,  Commentaire 
sur  Corneille,  1764. — Laharpe,  Cours  de  litterature,  1799,  1805 ; — 
Schlegel,  Cours  de  litterature  dramatique,  1809 ; — Sainte-Beuve, 
Portraits  litteraires,  vol.  i.,  1829;  Port-Royal,  vol.  i.,  1837;  and 
Nouveaux  Lundis,  vol.  vii.,  1864. — Desjardins,  Le  grand  Corneille 
historien,  Paris,  1861 ; — Levallois,  Corneille  inconnu,  Paris,  1876.-  - 
J.  Lemaitre,  Corneille  et  Aristote,  Paris,  1882 ; — G.  Lanson,  Corneille, 
Paris,  1898. 

1  The  enumeration  of  the  sources,  complete  up  to  the  date  of  issue  of  the  work 
[1875],  will  be  found  in  M.  Emile  Picot's  Bibliographie  Cornilieime.  In  the  case  of 
Corneille  and  in  that  of  the  great  writers  generally,  we  shall  only  mention  the 
sources  a  knowledge  of  which  appears  to  us  indispensable. 


128     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

The  effort  to  express  old  ideas  in  a  novel,  original,  and, 
on  occasion,  eccentric  manner  has  led  to  the  discovery 
of  new  ideas,  the  search  for  which  will  now  become  the 
general  ambition  and  will  soon  be  the  chief  concern  of 
the  makers  of  Maxims ; — and  in  the  end  La  Koche- 
foucauld,  if  he  be  given  his  proper  place,  will  be  merely 
the  last  of  the  illustrious  Precieux. 

We  should  add  that  this  movement  was  the  outcome 
of  the  efforts,  made  in  common,  not  only  of  the  men  of 
letters,  but  also  of  the  "  honnetes  gens"  or  the  members 
of  good  society ;  and  it  is  doubtless  due  to  this  fact 
that  "preciosity,"  speaking  generally,  did  not  meet  with 
the  same  fate  in  France  as  in  England,  Spain,  and  Italy. 

Frederic  Godefroy,  Lexique  de  la  langue  de  Corneille,  Paris,  1862 ; 
Marty-Laveaux,  Lexique,  etc.,  Paris,  1868,  forming  the  two  last 
volumes  of  the  edition  of  Corneille  in  the  collection  "  Les  Grands 
Ecrivains." 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  POET. 

A.  Corneille's  emulators ; — and  in  this  connection,  that  it  is  urgent 
to  "  disencumber  "  the  history  of  literature  ; — and  that  only  the  name 
but  not  the  work  of  Mairet,  or  even  Rotrou,  having  survived,  they 
are  only  worth  attention  in  so  far  as  they  are  a  "  function  "  of  Corneille. 
— In  what  way  and  to  what  extent  they  paved  the  way  for  him. — 
Mairet's  Sophonisbe  and  that  Corneille  was  well  acquainted  with  it, 
since  he  borrowed  from  it  the  imprecations  he  puts  in  the  mouth 
of  his  Canaille. — Predominance  of  the  romantic  element  in  Mairet's 
dramas. — The  preface  to  Silvanire,  1625,  and  the  rule  of  the  three 
unities  [Cf.  Breitinger,  Les  unites  avant  le  Cid  de  Corneille,  Zurich, 
1883]. — General  tendency  of  the  writers  of  tragedy  to  treat  subjects 
already  dealt  with. — The  four  Sophonisbe  [Trissino,  1515  ;  Mellin  de 
Saint-Gelais,  1559;  Claude  Hermel,  1593;  Moncrestien,  1596]. — Back- 
wardness of  comedy  in  comparison  with  tragedy. — The  Galanteries  du 
due  d'Ossone. — The  imitation  of  the  Spanish  drama  in  the  dramas  of 
Rofcrou  [Cf.  Puibusque,  Histoire  comparee  des  litteratures  francaise 
et  espagnole,  Paris,  1842 ;  and  Jarry,  Essai  sur  les  oeuvres  drama- 
tiques  de  Rotrou,  Paris,  1858]. — How  the  romantic  element  in 
Kotrou's  dramas  perpetually  tends  towards  extravagance ; — and  the 
sentiment  hi  them  towards  bombast. — The  traces  of  Rotrou's  influence 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     129 

For  why  is  it  that  Euphuism  in  England,  Marinism  in 
Italy,  or  Gongorism  in  Spain  did  not  exert  the  same 
influence  as  was  exercised  among  us  by  preciosity  ? 
The  reason  is  that  the  purely  literary  side  of  the 
movement  was  overruled  in  France  by  its  social  side, 
the  desire  to  be  peculiar  by  the  need  that  this  pecu- 
liarity should  find  a  host  of  admirers.  Our  Precieuses 
never  forgot  that  the  adversaries  they  had  to  combat 
in  the  first  instance  were  the  enemies  of  all  order  and 
discipline.  In  consequence,  while  in  Spain  or  in  Italy, 
Gongorism  or  Marinism  led  up  to  fresh  excesses  on 
the  part  of  individualism,  in  France,  on  the  contrary, 
it  was  the  social  ideal  that  came  victorious  out  of  the 

in  the  history  of  French  drama : — on  Corneille,  on  Moliere,  on 
Racine. 

B.  Corneille's   early  years. — The   false    idea    that    is    commonly 
entertained  that  Corneille  was  throughout  an  "  heroic"  writer; — and 
that  on  the  contrary  he  began  as  a  writer  of  comedy. — Melite,  1629  ; 
Clitandre,  1632 ;  La  Veuve,  1633 ;  La  Galerie  du  Palais,  1633 ;  La 
Suivante,  1634  ;  La  Place  Boijale,  1634  ;  L' Illusion  comique,  1636. — 
Literary  interest  of  the  comedies  of  Corneille's  youth. — They  owe 
nothing  to  the  imitation  of  foreign  writers  ; — they  consist  of  incidents 
taken  from  ordinary  life  and  but  very  slightly  "  romanced  " ; — and  their 
personages  are  already  of  almost  middle-class  rank. — The  scenes  of 
gallantry  in  Corneille's  comedies  ; — and  that  the  language  in  which 
they  are  written  is  a  perfect  imitation  of  that  of  the  Precieuses; — and, 
in  this  connection,  that  there  is  a  Louis  XIII.  style  in  literature  as  in 
architecture. — The  "  young  girl "  in  Corneille's  comedies; — the  style 
of  the  comedies.— Singular  character  of  the  Illusion  comique ; — and 
why,  towards  1635,  there  were  so  many  comedies  turning  on  actors 
and  stage  life. — Medee,  Corneille's  first  tragedy. — What  reasons  in- 
duced Corneille  to  turn  his  attention  to  tragedy  [Cf.  Hatzfeld,  Les 
commencements  de  Corneille,  1857  ; — P.  Vavasseur,  Corneille  poete 
comique,  1864 ; — and  F.  Hemon,  l&tude  sur  les  comedies  de  Corneille 
preceding  his  edition  of  the  Works,  1886]. 

C.  The  masterpieces.— The  Cid,  1637  ;  Horace,  1640;  Cinna,  1640; 
Polyeuctc,   1642 ;  Pompee,  1643 ;  the  Menteur,  1643 ;  La  Suite  du, 
Menteur,  1643  ;  TJuiodore,  1645  ;  Bodogune,  1646 ;  He  radius,  1647  ; 

10 


130     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

crisis  in  the  end.  It  was  the  Precieuses  who  deve- 
loped, strengthened,  and  consolidated  that  deep-lying 
tendency  in  French  literature  to  give  expression  to 
"  common  "  or  general  ideas  rather  than  to  particular 
opinions — a  tendency  already  foreshadowed  in  certain 
of  the  writers  of  the  preceding  age.  By  their  attitude, 
the  Precieuses  assured  the  vogue  of  those  branches  of 
literature  which  are  termed  "universal,"  and  whose 
essential  characteristic  lies  in  the  circumstance  that  their 
very  existence  depends  upon  the  existence  of  a  public  to 
encourage  them.  Our  meaning  is  that  it  is  quite  con- 
ceivable that  a  writer  should  compose  an  "  elegy  "  or  even 


Andromede,  1650 ;  Don  Sanche  d'Aragon,  1650 ;  Nicomede,  1651  ; 
Pertharite,  1652. — Of  some  influences  that  have  unquestionably  left 
their  mark  on  Corneille  : — ind,  in  this  connection,  of  the  allusions  to 
current  events  in  Corneille 's  dramas  ; — the  Cid  and  the  duelling 
question ; — the  influence  of  Balzac  and  of  his  Entretiens  sur  les 
Remains  [Cf.  his  letter  to  Corneille  on  the  subject  of  Cinna]  ; — the 
plots  against  Eichelieu  and  the  tragedy  of  Cinna; — Polyeucte  and 
Jansenism  [Cf.  Sainte  -  Beuve,  Port  -  Royal]. — Corneille's  genius 
suffers  when  he  deals  with  subjects  of  pure  "invention." — The  com- 
plicated plots  of  Rodogune  and  Heraclius.  —  But  here  again  his 
intention  is  to  vie  with  the  romance  writers  of  his  time :  La  Cal- 
prenede  and  Scuderi. — The  sketches  of  the  manners  of  the  time 
of  the  Fronde  in  Corneille's  masterpieces. — He  exaggerates  what  is 
already  too  "  high  flown  "  in  his  Roman  and  Spanish  models. — He 
essays  for  an  instant,  in  Don  Sanche  and  Nicomede,  a  more  sober 
form  of  comedy ; — but  he  is  quick  to  renounce  this  effort  as  is  seen 
in  his  Pertharite ; — in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  which  he  leaves 
off  writing  for  the  stage  for  seven  years. 

D.  The  genius  and  the  dramatic  system  of  Corneille  ; — and  that 
his  Discours  and  his  Examens  should  only  be  consulted  on  this  point 
with  much  precaution ; — because  they  are  scarcely  and  only  in- 
directly dogmatic  and  explanatory,  but  rather  apologetic  and 
polemical; — the  abbe  d'Aubignac  and  his  Pratique  du  theatre  [Cf. 
Arnaud,  Theories  dramatiques  au  XVII'  siecle,  Paris,  1888]. — The 
characteristics  of  Corneille's  imagination. — In  the  first  place  his 
imagination  was  strong  and  daring ; — that  is  to  say  it  was  dis- 


131 

a  "satire"  and  keep  it  to  himself,  that  he  should  write 
a  novel  and  lock  it  up  in  his  desk,  that  he  should  note 
down  in  secret  the  chronicles  of  his  time ;  on  the  other 
hand  it  has  never  occurred  to  any  one  to  prepare  a  "  dis- 
course" or  to  write  a  tragedy  in  five  acts  and  in  verse 
solely  for  his  own  personal  satisfaction. 

It  is  these  various  influences  that  paved  the  way  for, 
determined,  and  gave  final  sanction  to  the  success  of  the 
"  great "  Corneille.  For  nothing  is  less  like  the  real 
Corneille  than  the  easy-going  man  of  genius  whose  heroic 
figure  is  placed  before  us  in  all  our  histories,  the  truth 
being  that  the  poet  followed  the  veering  of  opinion  with 


tinguished  by  a  leaning,  at  once  natural  and  the  outcome  of  circum- 
stances, towards  the  extraordinary  and  the  improbable  ; — hence  his 
theory  that  the  subject  of  a  fine  tragedy  ought  to  be  improbable  [See 
Marty-Laveaux'  edition,  i.,  147]  ; — hence  his  theory  as  to  the  use  to 
be  made  of  history  in  drama  [Marty-Laveaux'  edition,  i.,  15], — hence 
his  theory  of  heroism : 

When  fate  allows  us  to  pursue  a  career  of  honour, 

It  affords  us  a  glorious  opportunity  to  display  our  fortitude. 

— Hence,  too,  the  epic  character  of  the  personages  in  his  dramas 
[Cf.  an  admirable  passage  on  this  point  in  Heine's  La  France]  ; — 
the  comparative  absence  of  analysis  and  psychology ; — the  subordi- 
nation of  the  characters  to  the  situations  [Cf.  Saint-Evremond's  study 
of  Racine's  Alexandre], — Comparison  in  this  connection  between 
Rodogune  and  Ruy  Bias,  or  between  Cinna  and  Hernani. — That 
Corneille's  taste  for  complications  of  plot  grafted  on  these  tendencies, 
would  have  landed  him  in  melodrama. 

But  while  his  imagination  was  strong  and  daring,  it  was  at  the 
same  time  noble  and  lofty ; — that  is  to  say  he  prefers  what  is  noble 
to  what  is  base  in  the  domain  of  the  extraordinary  and  the  romantic ; 
— what  elevates  the  soul  to  what  demeans  it ; — and  in  general  heroes 
to  monsters. — Still  it  is  not  true  as  has  been  said  [Cf.  V.  de  Laprade, 
Essais  de  critique  idealiste]  that  his  drama  represents  the  triumph 
of  duty  over  passion ; — it  represents  the  triumph  of  the  will  [Cf. 
J.  Lemaitre,  Corneille  et  Aristote]  over  the  obstacles  that  interfere 
with  its  development ; — and  hence,  in  his  drama : — his  liking  for 


132     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 


unrivalled  acumen,  and  ^guidfid-  -his,  .supple  talent  in 
accordance  with  his  observations.  Quite  rightly,  he  is 
given  an  important  place,  a  pjace  of  honour,  in  the  Grand 
Dictionnaire  des  Pretieuses,  of  Bodeau  de  Somaize,  where 
he  is  termed  "the  greatest  man  who  has  ever  written 
pieces  for  the  playhouse."  The  appreciation  is  just  ;  and 
the  chief  preoccupation  of  Corneille,  both  in  the  comedies 
of  his  youth,  in  Melite,  the  Veuve  or  the  Galerie  du  Palais, 
and  in  the  masterpieces  of  his  maturity,  was  to  win  the 
approbation  of  the^Precieuses. 

In  his  Examen  de  Melite,  he  himself  claims  with  pride 
that  his  earliest  achievement  was  to  establish  the  reign  of 


political  tragedy,  which  is  pre-eminently  the  field  for  the  exercise  of 
the  will ; — his  contempt  for  the  passions  of  love,  which  he  regards  as 
being  too  "encumbered  with  weakness"; — the  moral  purpose  or 
rather  the  apparent  moral  purpose ; — hence,  too,  the  highly-strung 
sentiments ; — and  hence,  finally,  the  art  with  which  he  exhausts  the 
subjects  he  treats  [Cf.  Examen  de  Bodogune,  Marty-Laveaux'  edition, 
iv.,  421]. — "  The  second  act  surpasses  the  first ;  the  third  is  superior 
to  the  second ;  and  the  last  act  throws  all  the  others  into  the  shade." 
— He  is  the  master  of  his  subjects  just  as  his  heroes  are  the  masters 
of  their  fate.  [Compare  the  contrary  state  of  things  in  the  Romantic 
drama.] 

It  is  a  pity,  after  this,  that  his  imagination  should  be  tortuous  and 
quibbling; — which  amounts  to  saying  that  he  partakes  to  some 
extent  if  not  of  the  lawyer  at  any  rate  of  the  casuist. — The  "  cases  of 
conscience"  in  Corneille's  tragedies; — and  that  they  constitute  then- 
greatness  ; — but  they  also  give  them  a  certain  tortuousness. — Hence  the 
actions  in  his  drama  which  he  terms  "implex"  [Cf.  the  character  of 
Sabine  in  Horace  and  that  of  Severe  in  Polyeucte] ; — analysis  of 
HeracUus ; — admissions  of  Corneille  on  this  subject. — To  complication 
of  plot  he  adds  complication  of  motives ; — Schlegel's  observations  on 
this  point  [Cf.  Litterature  dramatique,  Saussure's  translation,  ii., 
p.  41]. — Corneille's  Machiavellism, — and  that  it  would  be  possible  to 
extract  as  many  immoral  maxims  from  his  work  as  from  the  Prince. 

All  those  State  crimes  committed  to  wear  a  crown, 
Heaven  absolves  us  of  them,  when  it  gives  us  the  crown. 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     133 

decency  and  morality  on  a  stage  whose  license  previous  to 


his  timenad  kepi  women  away  from  the  theatre- 
find  then  that  if  he  borrows  a  subject  from  Spain, — since 
Spain  is  the  fashion, — he  imparts  to  his  personages  in 
the  Cid  the  quality  of  humanity,  in  the  Menteur  the 
quality  of  polish,  and  in  both  the  quality  of  generality 
that  are  the  characteristics  of  the  polite  society  around 
him,  and  as  it  were  the  signs  by  which  its  members 
recognise  one  another.  Similarly,  when  in  Horace, 
Cinna,  or  Rodogune,  he  mingles  politics  and  gallantry,  it 
must  not  be  supposed  that  he  is  imitating  Justinus, 
Seneca,  or  Livy :  he  is  sketching  from  the  life  the 


Corneille's  pretensions  to  a  knowledge  of  politics ; — the  remark  of 
Conde,  cited  in  this  connection,  after  the  representation  of  Sertorius : 
"  When  did  Corneille  learn  the  art  of  war  ?  " — and  of  Grammont  after 
that  of  Otlion. 

E.  The  old  age  of  Corneille. — CEdipe.  1659;    Sertorius,   1662; — 
Sophonisbe,  1663;  Othon,  1664;  Agesilas,  1666;  Attila,  1667;—  Tite 
et  Berenice,   1670 ;  Pulcherie,  1672 ;  Surena,  1674 ; — Corneille  as  a 
delineator  of  history ; — and  of  the  falseness  of  the  paradox  of  Desjardins 
in  his  Grand  Corneille  historien. — Local  colour  in  the  work  of  Corneille. 
— That  the  defects  of  his  last  plays  proceed  from  the  same  causes  as 
the  qualities  of  his  masterpieces. — That  they  are  mere  special  plead- 
ings written  in  support  of  a  thesis. — The  Machiavellisrn  of  the  motives 
[Cf.  Pertharite,  vol.  vi.,  p.  571 ;— Othon,  vol.  vi.,  p.  632 ;— Attila,  vol. 
vii.,  pp.  107, 162]. — That  the  author's  nobleness  and  elevation  degenerate 
in  them : — into  affectation  [Nicomede,  vol.  vi.,  p.  531] ; — into  bombast 
[Don  Sanche,  voL  vi.,  p.  458]  ; — into  inhumanity  [Attila,  vol.  vii.,  p. 
172] ;  —and  finally  that  the  bent  of  his  imagination  takes  the  changed 
shape  of  a  mania  for  unreasoned  inventions,  innovations,  and  compli- 
cations.— It  is  for  this  reason  that  "  he  now  loads  his  subjects  with 
matter"  ; — that  after  ha  ving  banished  love  from  his  plays  he  reintro- 
duces  it  in  the  guise  of  the  most  frigid  gallantry  [Cf.  Othon,  vol.  vi., 
p.  587;  Attila,  vol.  vii.,  p.  140,  141]; — and  that  he  puts  history  to  a 
false  use  in  tragedy. 

F.  The  language  and  style  of  Corneille. — That  the  poet  amid  this 
shipwreck  of  the  qualities  of  his  prime  retains  one  gift  to  the  end — for 
nobody,   perhaps,  has  ever  written  better  in  verse  than  Corneille. 


134     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

manners  and  personages  of  his  time.  Who  is  the 
Precieuse  of  whom  Somaize  tells  us  that  "  not  only  was 
she  much  esteemed  for  her  beauty,  but  as  well  for  the 
loftiness  of  her  soul,  while  her  intelligence  was  not  solely 
preoccupied  with  trifles,  but  rose  to  the  consideration  of 
matters  of  the  first  importance "  ?  This  Precieuse  is 
familiar  to  us  ;  and  before  being  called  Emilie  in  Cor- 
neille's  Cinna,  or  Cleopatre  in  his  Bodogune,  she  had  more 
than  once  in  actual  history  been  a  source  of  uneasiness  to 
the  great  Cardinal  under  her  real  name  of  the  Duchesse 
de  Chevreuse.  Numerous  are  the  parallels  it  would  be 
possible  to  draw  of  a  like  nature.  When  Corneille  compli- 

—  [Cf .  the  speech  of  Auguste  in  Cinna  and  the  narrative  passages  of 
the  MenteurJ\ — Qualities  of  his  style  ; — and  to  appreciate  them,  a  com- 
parison between  the  style  of  Polyeucte  and  that  of  Andromaque ; — or 
between  the  comic  style  of  Corneille  and  that  of  Moliere  and  of 
Eegnard. — Appropriateness  and  vigour  of  his  language. — Richness  and 
harmony  of  his  verse. —  Amplitude  and  vigour  of  his  periods. — In 
what  sense  Corneille  remains  natural  and  consistent  with  himself  even 
when  he  is  guilty  of  incoherence  and  preciosity. — Of  certain  points 
which  Corneille  has  in  common  with  the  Romanticists ; — and  in  con- 
sequence of  the  points  in  common  between  Romantic  literature  and 
the  literature  of  the  time  of  Louis  XIII. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Apart  from  his  tragedies  and  comedies,  the  only 
work  of  Corneille  of  any  importance  is  his  translation  in  verse  of  the 
Irrvitatio  Christi. 

We  shall  content  ourselves  with  citing  here  among  the  editions  of 
his  works  : — the  edition  of  1660  in  3  vols. ; — that  of  1664  in  two  folio 
volumes,  which  is  the  most  monumental,  but  unfortunately  it  lacks 
the  plays  of  his  later  years — the  edition  of  1738  with  Jolly's  commen- 
taries ; — the  edition  of  1738  which  is  the  first  that  contains  Voltaire's 
commentaries  and  Gravelot's  illustrations ; — finally,  among  modern 
editions,  to  say  nothing  of  very  many  others,  that  of  Marty-Laveaux 
in  the  collection  of  the  Grands  Ecrivains  de  la  France,  Paris,  1862- 
1868,  Hachette. 

VIII.— The  Foundation  of  the  French  Academy,  1635. 

1.  THE   OKIGIN  OF  THE  ACADEMY. — The  Italian  academies  of  the 


THE    NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     135 

cates,  embroils,  and  entangles  his  plots  to  the  utmost  in 
his  Sertorius,  his  Othon,  his  Attila,  he  does  so  less  in 
response  to  his  own  inspiration  than  with  a  view  to  vying 
as  a  romantic  writer  with  the  Gombervilles,  the  La 
Calprenedes,  and  the  Scuderis ! 

And_his_genius  is  not  diminished  on  this  account  !  His 
superiority  is  unaffected  by  his  compliances  with  the 
variations  and  exigencies  of  the  taste  of  his  time,  since 
the  numerous  writers  who  surround  him, — Mairet,  Rotrou, 
du  Ryer,  Scuderi,  La  Calprenede, — though  they  follow 
the  fashion  as  he  did,  produced  nothing  of  the  stamp 
of  the  Cid,  of  Polyeucte,  of  Pompee,  or  of  Heraclius. 


time  of  the  Renaissance  [Cf.  Pellisson,  Histoire  de  V Academic]  ; — the 
academy  of  the  last  of  the  Valois  [Cf .  on  this  head  M.  Edouard  Fremy's 
book,  Paris,  n.d.]  ; — the  Florentine  Academy. — A  remark  of  the  Abbe 
d'Olivet  on  Balzac :  "  Up  to  that  time,"  he  says,  "  men  of  letters  had 
formed  a  republic  of  which  the  dignities  were  divided  between  a 
number  of  persons,  but  this  republic  suddenly  became  a  monarchy  to 
the  throne  of  which  Balzac  was  raised  by  an  unanimous  vote." — That 
Corn-art's  original  scheme  for  the  Academy  [Cf.  his  Memoires]  was 
devised  precisely  with  a  view  to  introducing  an  ordered  hierarchy 
into  the  world  of  letters. — This  purpose  coincided  with  the  wishes 
of  the  Precieuses  of  the  Hotel  Rambouillet ; — with  the  general 
desire  of  men  of  letters ; — and  with  the  more  far-reaching  plans 
of  Cardinal  Richelieu. — The  "  Letters  Patent  of  January  29,  1635." 
— Why  did  the  Parliament  refuse  to  ratify  them  for  two  years  ? 
— It  may  be  that  established  bodies  dislike  to  see  other  bodies 
organised  around  them. — But  Richelieu  effected  his  purpose  in  the 
end. — The  first  academicians. — [Cf.  Pellisson  and  d'Olivet,  Histoire 
de  V  Academic  francaise,  Livet's  edition,  Paris,  1858; — Paul  Mesnard, 
Histoire  de  I' Academic,  Paris,  1857  ; — The  successive  prefaces  of  the 
Dictionary  of  the  Academy ; — A.  Bourgoin,  Valentin  Conrart,  Paris, 
1888 ; — and  the  Abbe  A.  Fabre,  Chapelain  et  nos  deux  premieres 
Academies,  Paris,  1890.] 

2.  THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  ACADEMY. — That  it  did  not  differ  in  principle 
from  that  which  had  been  projected  by  the  Precieuses,  Malherbe, 
Balzac,  and  Vaugelas : — it  was  proposed  to  raise  the  French  language 
to  the  dignity  of  Latin  and  Greek ; — and  in  consequence  to  the  uni- 


136     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

I  merely  contend  that  his  greatness  is  not  dependent  on 
his  isolation,  and  that  though  he  towers  above  his  rivals 
he  is  bound  to  them  nevertheless  by  ties  of  relationship. 
But  he  belongs  essentially  to  that  Precious  society,  which 
recognised  and  applauded  itself  in  his  works,  which  will 
remain  faithful  to  him  to  the  end,  and  will  defend  him 
against  young  and  audacious  rivals  ;  and  the  consequence 
is,  that  although  the  Precieuses  may  have  had  their  faults 
and  even  have  exposed  themselves  to  ridicule,  the  drama 
of  Corneille  is  lasting  testimony  to  the  nobility,  loftiness, 
and  generosity  of  their  artistic  ideal. 

There  is  a  man  who  made  no  mistake  on  this  score. 


versality  they  had  formerly  enjoyed. — Conformity  of  this  very  clearly 
defined  intention  with  the  intentions  of  Ronsard  and  the  Pleiad. — 
Why  was  it  that  all  the  translators  who  enjoyed  a  reputation  at  the 
time  were  members  of  the  Academy  ? — Because  the  sole  object  of 
their  translations  was  to  spread  and,  as  it  were,  to  incorporate  with 
the  substance  of  the  French  genius  an  exhaustive  knowledge  of 
antiquity. — The  "  belles  infideles"  of  Perrot  d'Ablancourt. — Why  all 
the  grammarians  ? — Because  it  lay  with  them  to  set  forth  and  to 
catalogue  the  riches,  the  resources,  and  the  "possibilities"  of  the 
language. — And  why  all  the  critics  ? — Because  it  was  believed  at  the 
time  that  there  exists  a  necessary  relation  between  the  perfection  of 
literary  ivorks  and  the  observance  of  the  rules  or  laws  that  govern 
the  branch  of  literature  to  which  they  belong. — Chapelain's  Prefaces. 
— Controversies  as  to  "the  excellence  of  the  French  language"  [Cf. 
Goujet,  Bibliotheque  francaise,  vol.  i.]. — The  early  labours  of  the 
Academy; — services  rendered  in  general  by  the  French  Academy  ; — 
and  in  what  sense  it  may  be  said  of  the  Academy  that  it  really  fixed 
the  language. 

3.  THE  IMMEDIATE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  ACADEMY. — In  the  first  place 
it  substituted  a  central  literary  authority  for  the  influence  of  dispersed 
coteries ; — and  in  this  way,  it  was  due  to  the  Academy,  and  in  the 
works  of  its  members,  that  individual  efforts  began  to  converge  towards 
a  common  goal. — Advantages  and  disadvantages  of  this  literary 
centralisation.  The  establishment  of  the  Academy  enforced  the  con- 
viction that  literary  glory  is  an  integral  and  necessary  part  of  the 
greatness  of  a  nation  [Cf.  Du  Bellay,  Defense  et  Illustration,  etc,]. — 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     137 

I  refer  to  Kichelieu,  whose  perception  of  the  truth  is  the 
secret  motive  of  his  attitude,  now  friendly,  now  hostile, 
towards  Corneille.  The  moment  the  writer  and  the  poet, 
instead  of  keeping  to  themselves,  began  to  mix  in  society, 
and  to  submit,  as  an  earnest  of  their  intention  to  please, 
to  the  discipline  society  imposed  on  them,  Richelieu  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  making  this  new-born  docility  serve  his 
political  designs.  It  seemed  to  him  that  it  would  surely 
be  a  master  stroke  to  turn  to  account  the  power  of  the 
intelligence,  to  make  it  an  instrument  of  his  authority  ; 
or,  to  put  the  matter  a  little  differently,  to  interest  men 
of  letters  in  the  realisation  of  his  ambitious  plans  without 


In  this  way  it  raised  the  status  of  the  man  of  letters ; — in  the  State  ; 
— and  in  his  own  eyes. — Finally,  when  the  Academy  set  itself  the 
task  of  "  fixing"  the  language,  it  seemed  at  first  as  if  the  effort  were 
destined  to  be  successful; — and  in  any  case,  by  enforcing  respect  for 
the  language,  it  paved  the  way  for  what  foreigners  themselves  will 
speak  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  later  as  the  universality  of  French 
[Cf.  Bivarot,  Discours  sur  I'universalite  de  la  langue  francaise,  in 
answer  to  the  question  raised  by  the  Berlin  Academy]. 

IX.— The  Origin  of  Jansenism. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Banke,  Histoire  de  la  Papaute  aux  XVI e  et 
XVII'  siecles  ; — M.  Philippson,  La  Contre-Revolution  religieuse  au 
XVI1'  siecle,  Paris  and  Brussels,   1884;  —  Dejob,  De   V influence  du 
concile  de  Trente  sur  la  litterature,  Paris,  1884. 

Molina,  Concordia  liberi  arbitrii  cum  gratice  donis,  1595 ; — 
Jansenius,  Augustinus,  seu  Sancti  Augustini  doctrina  de  natures 
humana  sanitate,  cegritudine  et  medicina,  1640 ; — C.  Mazzella,  De 
Gratia  Christi,  Woodstock  Marylandise,  1878. 

Dom  Clemencet,  Histoire  generale  de  Port-Royal,  10  vols.  in  12mo, 
Amsterdam,  1756  ; — N.  Bapin,  Histoire  du  Jansenisme  depuis  son 
origine  jusqu'en,  1644,  edited  (and  arbitrarily  mutilated)  by  the  Abbe 
Domenech,  Paris,  1861  ;— Sainte-Beuve,  Port-Royal,  vols.  i.  and  ii. ; 
— the  Abbe  Fuzet  (at  present  Bishop  of  Beauvais),  Les  Jansenistes 
et  leur  dernier  historien,  Paris,  1876. 

2.  THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  DOCTRINE. — The  importance  of  Jansenism 


138     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

acquainting  them  with  the  secret  of  his  intentions ;  and 
he  fancied  he  saw  the  means  of  effecting  his  purpose  in 
the  movement  in  progress  around  him.  All  the  small 
literary  coteries  that  had  come  into  existence  in  imitation 
of  the  Hotel  Bambouillet, — of  which  in  reality  they  were 
only  the  caricature, — were  evidence  of  a  desire  to  see 
reign,  even  in  intellectual  matters,  a  measure  of  order 
and  discipline.  There  seemed  to  be  a  tendency,  ope- 
rating on  different  lines  to  those  he  was  following,  in 
favour  of  that  unity  or,  to  use  a  stronger  expression, 
that  homogeneousness  which  was  the  principal  or  the 
unique  object  of  his  home  policy.  Just  as  he  wished  to 


in  the  history  of  religious  ideas ; — of  French  literature  ; — and  of 
politics. — The  still  existing  hostility  against  Jansenism  of  an  entire 
party. 

The  movement  of  the  Counter-Reformation  [Cf.  Ranke,  Histoire 
de  la  Papaute\  ; — Self-concentration  of  Catholicism  ; — the  revival 
of  religious  fervour  during  the  last  years  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
— Molinism  [which  must  not  be  confounded  with  Molinosisni]  ; — 
and  how  it  seems  to  have  accredited  the  idea  that  we  are  masters  of 
our  destiny. — Du  Vergier  de  Hauranne,  Abbe  of  Saint-Cyran  [1581  ; 
f  1643]  and  Jansenius  or  Janssen  [1585  ;  •(-  1638]  combat  this  "  cor- 
ruption" of  Christianity. — Early  writings  of  Saint-Cyran. — The 
Question  royale,  1609 ; — Apologie  pour  Henri  .  .  .  de  la  Roclieposay 
eveque  de  Poitiers,  1615. — Meeting  between  Saint-Cyran  and  Arnauld 
d'Andilly,  1620  ; — their  relations  with  the  Fathers  of  the  Oratory ; — 
the  Refutation  de  la  Somme  du  Pere  Garasse,  1626 ; — the  publication 
of  the  Petrus  Aurelius,  1631 ; — The  Port-Royal  des  Champs  is  trans- 
ferred to  Paris,  1626 ; — Saint-Cyran,  director  of  the  Port-Royal ; — 
his  imprisonment  in  the  Bastille,  1638  ; — Publication  of  the  Angus- 
tinus  in  1640. 

Analysis  of  the  Augustinus. — The  five  propositions  [Cf.  the  Abbe 
Fuzet,  Les  Jansenistes  et  leur  dernier  historien  ;  and  with  regard  to 
the  essence  of  the  question  of  grace,  C.  Mazella,  De  Gratia  Christi 
prcelectiones  scholastico-dogmaticce]. — That  the  points  at  issue  in 
this  controversy  are : — free  will ; — the  definition  of  human  nature  ; — 
and,  finally,  the  entire  question  of  conduct. — Further,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  history  of  literature,  an  acquaintance  with  the  con- 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF    FEENCH   LITEEATUEE     139 

make  the  French  monarchy  the  type  in  some  sort  of  the 
modern  State,  a  veritable  whole,  really  living  and  really 
organised,  so  literature  also  seemed  to  be  tending  towards 
the  same  ideal  of  organisation  and  common  life.  In  the 
same  way,  while  the  object  of  Ijis  foreign  policy  was  to 
rnSke  France  the  regulator  of  European  politics,  the  secret 
ambition  of  the  grammarians  and  critics — of  Vaugelas, 
for  instance,  or  of  Chapelain — was  to  insure  the  French 
language  inheriting  the  proud  position  of  the  Latin  and 
Trreek  languages.  A  mutual  understanding  should  be 
easy ;  and  it  took  shape  after  some  tentative  essays  in 
the  conception  of  the  French  Academy.  The  French 


troversy  is  necessary  to  an  understanding  of  the  Provinciales  and  of 
the  Pensees, 

X.— Rene  Descartes  [la  Haye  (in  Touraine),  1596 ;  f  1650, 
Stockholm] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — F.  Cournot,  Considerations  sur  la  marche  des 
idees  dans  les  temps  modernes,  vol.  i.,  book  iii.,  ch.  1,  2,  3,  4,  Paris, 
1872  ;  —  Fiorentino,    Bernardino    Telesio,     Florence,     1874 ;  —  Ch. 
Benouvier,  Philosophie  analytique  de  Vhistoire,  v.  iii.,  Bk.  xi.,  ch.  1, 
2,  Paris,  1897. 

A.  Baillet,  La  vie  de  Monsieur  Descartes,  Paris,  1691. 

3.  Millet,  Histoire  de  Descartes  avant  1637,  Paris,  1867 ; — Louis 
Liard,  Descartes,  Paris,  1882. — A.  Fouillee,  Descartes,  in  the  series  of 
Grands  Ecrivains  Francais,  Paris,  1893. 

Bordas-Demoulin,  le  Cartesianisme,  Paris,  1843 ; — V.  Cousin, 
Fragments  philosophiques,  vols.  iv.  and  v. :  Philosophie  moderne, 
Paris,  1845 ; — Francisque  Bouillier,  Histoire  de  la  philosophic  car- 
tesienne,  Paris,  1854 ; — Bavaisson,  Rapport  sur  le  prix  Victor 
Cousin,  1884  ; — GL  Monchamp,  Histoire  du  carte sianisme  en 
Belgique,  Brussels,  1886  ; — F.  Brunetiere,  Etudes  critiques,  fourth 
series. 

2.  THE  MAN,  THE  PHILOSOPHER,  AND  THE  WRITER. — What  was  the 
conception  of  science  and  philosophy  in  vogue  before  Descartes  ? — and 
that  to  attribute  him  the  honour  of  having  overthrown  the  philosophy 
of  Aristo'ole  is  to  make  an  error  of  something  like  a  hundred  years. — 
The  role  of  Italy  in  the  formation  of  the  idea  of  science. — Galileo  [Cf. 


140     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Academy  was  created  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  bind 
up  the  destinies  of  literature  with  those  of  France  itself; 
and  that  it  might  not  happen  that  a  social  force  so  con- 
siderable as  was  already  that  of  the  intelligence  should 
entirely  escape  the  action  of  the  central  authority. 

It  remained  to  be  seen  under  what  conditions  the 
understanding  would  be  completed.  For  on  several 
occasions,  and  even  on  the  morrow  of  the  foundation 
of  his  Academy,  Richelieu  had  been  brought  to  perceive 
— by  the  incident  of  Corneille  and  the  critics  of  the  Cid, 
— that  he  would  not  govern  men  of  letters  as  he  did  his 
"  intendants."  Men  of  letters  are  lacking  at  times  in 
that  esprit  de  suite,  which  the  cardinal  demanded  from 

Florentine  op.  cit.,  and  J.  Bertraiid,  Les  fonda teurs  de  Vastronomie 
moderne,  Paris,  1865]. — A  few  words  as  to  Bacon  and  as  to  the 
slightness  of  his  influence  [Cf.  Liebig,  Bacon,  Paris,  1866 ;  and 
Claude  Bernard,  Introduction  a  la  medecine  ex-perimentale,  Paris, 
1865]. — Of  the  learned  ignorance  of  Descartes  ; — and  how  much  he 
was  indebted  to  his  predecessors. — That  he  had  certainly  read 
Charron's  Traite  de  la  Sagesse ; — the  Doctrine  curicuse  of  Father 
Garasse ; — and,  on  his  own  admission,  the  Letters  of  Balzac. — 
Whether,  as  Huyghens  believed,  he  was  "  very  jealous  of  the 
renown  of  Galileo." 

Descartes'  education  ; — his  early  studies  at  the  College  of  La  Fleche, 
1604-1612 ;— his  early  career  in  Paris  and  his  passion  for  gambling 
[Cf.  Baillet,  ch.  8]  ; — his  military  career,  1617-1621  ; — he  is  present 
«at  the  battle  of  Prague,  1620. — His  journey  to  Italy  and  his  pilgrimage 
to  Notre-Dame-de-Lorette,  1624-1625  ; — his  sojourn  in  Paris,  1625- 
1629 ; — where  it  is  probable  that  he  wrote  his  Begulce  ad  directionem 
ingenii. — The  mythological  allusions  and  the  preciosity  of  expression 
in  the  Begulce  : — one  is  reminded  of  the  Latin  style  of  Bacon. — That 
these  details  reveal  a  Descartes  who  is  an  entirely  different  man  from 
the  speculative  genius  of  legend. — No  philosopher  has  seen  more  of 
the  world ; — has  obtained  an  acquaintance  at  first  hand  with  more 
varied  social  conditions ; — which  he  studied  with  the  express  intention 
of  learning  "  to  know  the  human  race." — He  drew  from  life  and  from 
the  observation  of  mankind  what  Montaigne  sought  in  the  observation 
of  himself  and  in  books. — He  decides  to  settle  in  Holland,  and  takes 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FEENCH   LITERATUEE     141 

those  he  took  under  his  protection  ;  and  though  their 
obedience  is  quite  capable  of  going  to  the  length  of 
servility,  still  it  is  always  to  a  certain  extent  capricious 
and  intermittent. 

It  is  at  this  juncture  that  the  historians  of  French 
literature  place  the  influence  of  Descartes  and  of  his 
Discours  de  la  methode,  the  date  of  publication  of  which 
is  1637.  "  The  influence  of  Descartes,"  wrote  Desire 
Nisard,  "  was  that  of  a  man  of  genius  who  taught 
men  their  true  nature,  and  together  with  the  art  of 
attaining  to  a  knowledge  and  control  of  their  intelli- 
gence, the  art  of  employing  it  to  the  best  purpose." 
In  another  passage  he  says :  "  This  is  the  reason  why 

up  his  residence  in  Amsterdam,  1629. — His  romance :  Helene  et 
Francine. 

Some  peculiarities  of  Descartes'  character, — and  how  is  it  his 
biographers  have  not  given  greater  attention  to  them  ? — The  wide 
scope  of  his  interests. — What  has  become  of  his  verses  on  the  "  Peace 
of  Munster"? — and  of  the  comedy  "in  prose  interspersed  with 
verse,"  of  which  mention  is  made  in  the  list  of  his  manuscripts  ? — 
His  habitual  state  of  uneasiness ; — his  absentmindedness ; — his  changes 
of  residence; — his  mysterious  existence  ; — his  "  fads." — Some  curious 
fragments  of  his  Journal; — his  hallucinations  and  his  dreams  ; — the 
memorable  night  of  November  10,  1619,  when  "it  seemed  to  him 
that  the  spirit  of  truth  descended  into  him  from  heaven  and 
possessed  him."— Nothing  similar  is  found  in  the  life  of  Corneille  ; 
— and  still  less  in  that  of  Malherbe. — That  it  is  time  that  a  place 
should  be  given  these  peculiarities  in  the  historical  character  of 
Descartes; — and  that  they  should  be  kept  in  view  in  passing 
judgment  on  his  philosophy. 

The  publication  of  the  Essais  de  philosophic  [in  4to,  Leyden, 
1637]  comprising :  the  Discours  sur  la  inethode,  the  Dioptrique,  the 
Traite  des  meteores  and  the  Geometric. — His  controversy  with  Voet 
[Cf.  J.  Bertrand,  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  1891]. — He  publishes  his 
Meditations  metaphysiques,  1641 ; — his  Principes  de  philosophic, 
1644. — "  He  takes  a  dislike  to  the  function  of  author,  that  deprives 
him  of  all  desire  td  publish  anything  "  [Cf.  Baillet,  Vie  de  Descartes]. 
— His  taste  for  the  study  of  natural  history  and  physiology. — His  last 


142     MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY  OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE 

the  writers  who  came  immediately  after  Descartes 
.  .  .  are  almost  all  his  disciples.  They  are  his  dis- 
ciples by  the  doctrines  they  adopt  wholly  or  in  part, 
and  by  the  systematic  treatment  they  apply  to  every 
order  of  ideas,  and  every  branch  of  literature."  Nisard 
also  says  in  praise  of  Descartes  that  "he  reached  per- 
fection in  the  art  of  writing  French  "  ;  and  he  adds  that 
this  perfection  consisted  "  in  the  perfect  conformity 
between  the  language  of  Descartes  and  the  French 
genius."  I  am  of  opinion,  however,  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  be  more  utterly  mistaken ;  and  without  refer- 
ring to  the  "perfection  of  Descartes'  style," — of  which  I 
should  be  disposed  to  remark,  to  borrow  a  well-known 

journey  to  France,  1648. — The  disappointment  he  experiences  in  his 
country  [Cf.  his  Letters  at  this  date]. — That,  in  any  case,  the 
troubles  of  the  Fronde  would  have  sufficed  to  drive  him  out  of 
France. — He  takes  up  his  residence  in  Stockholm,  October,  1649 ; — 
where  he  dies  [February  11,  1650]. 

Whether  Descartes'  style  deserves  the  praise  that  has  been 
bestowed  on  it  by  some  critics? — If  his  style  be  considered  im- 
partially, it  seems  that  he  wrote  clearly  ; — and  that  he  expresses  well 
enough  what  he  wishes  to  express ;— but  there  is  nothing  very 
superior  in  his  style  to  that  of  Arnauld  in  his  Frequente  communion. 
— Its  principal  merit  is  that  it  is  free  from  those  "  ornaments  "  and 
"embellishments"  with  which  Voiture  and  Balzac  "enriched"  their 
style. — On  the  other  hand,  for  his  style  to  be  perfectly  "  natural,"  it 
would  have  to  be  a  reflection  of  his  true  character,  which  it  is  not ; — 
it  is  only  his  reason  that  finds  expression  in  his  prose ; — and  yet 
imagination  played  a  greater  part  in  his  life  than  in  that  of  any  other 
philosopher. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — They  consist  of  the  Essais  de  philosophic,  pub- 
lished in  1637  ; — of  the  Meditations  tnetaphysiques,  1641 ; — of  the 
Reponses  aux  objections,  1641-42 ; — of  the  Lettre  a  Gisbert  Voet, 
1643  ;  — of  the  Principes  de  philosophic,  1644  ; — and  of  the  posthu- 
mous works; — Traite  des passions,  1650; — Traite  de  Vhomme,  1662; 
— Traite  du foetus,  1662 ; — and  Traite  du  monde. — To  these  works  is 
to  be  added  a  voluminous  Correspondence,  published  for  the  first  time 
in  1657  by  Clerselier. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE     143 

saying,  that  it  may  be  likened  "  to  pure  water,  which  has 
no  special  flavour," — the  influence  of  Descartes,  as  will  be 
seen  further  on,  was  not  exerted  in  the  direction  that  is 
alleged,  and  still  less  at  the  precise  moment  at  which  it 
is  said  to  have  taken  effect.  The  truth  is,  that  the  pub- 
lication of  the  Discours  sur  la  methode,  far  from  having 
been  followed  by  any  progress  in  the  domain  of  reason  or 
good  sense,  was  merely  followed  chronologically  by  a 
resumption  of  the  offensive  on  the  part  of  foreign  in- 
fluences :  of  Spanish  influence  to  start  with,  then  of 
Italian  influence,  and  before  long  of  both  influences 
combined.  The  explanation  of  this  circumstance  is 
easy.  Eichelieu's  work  has  been  interrupted  by  his 

Add  also  the  Regulte  ad  directionem  ingenii  and  the  Inquisitio 
veritatis  per  lumen  natures,  1701. 

There  are  several  editions  of  the  works  of  Descartes  : — (1)  The 
Amsterdam  edition,  8  vols.  in  4to,  1670-1683  and  9  vols.  in  18nio, 
1692-1713  ;— (2)  the  Paris  edition,  1724-1729,  13  vols.  in  12mo ;— and 
(3)  Victor  Cousin's  edition,  11  vols.  in  8vo,  Paris,  1824-1826,  Levrault. 

M.  Foucher  de  Careil  has  published  two  volumes  of  a  Supplement 
to  the  works  of  Descartes,  Paris,  1859-1860,  Durand. 

XI.— Port-Royal  and  the  Arnaulds. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Add  to  the  sources  given  in  article  IX. : — Bayle, 
Dictionnaire,  article  Arnauld ; — Histoire  du  Jansenisme,  3  vols.  in 
12mo,   Amsterdam,    1700    [by   Dom    Gerberon] ; — Memoires   du  P. 
Rapin  [a  continuation  of  his  Histoire  du  Jansenisme,  covering  the 
period  1644-1669]  edited  by  M.  Louis  Aubineau,  3  vols.  8vo,  Paris, 
1865 ; — Memoires   d' Arnauld   d'Andilly,  edited   by  Petitot   and  by 
Michaud    and    Poujoulat ; — P.   Varin,   La  verite   sur   les  Arnauld, 
2  vols.,  Paris,  1847 ; — P.  Faugere,  Lettres  de  la  mere  Agnes  Arnauld, 
2  vols.  8vo,  Paris,  1858. 

2.  THE  ARNAULDS,   and  in  particular    ANTOINE   ARNAULD   [Paris, 
1612;  t  1694,  Brussels]. — A  letter  of  Balzac  on  the  subject  of  the 
Arnaulds :   "  The  entire  household  argues,  preaches,  persuades  .  .  . 
and  one  Arnauld  is  worth  a  dozen  Epictetuses." — The  history  of  the 
family. — Soldiers,    civil    servants,     courtiers,     priests    and    nuns. — 
Arnauld  d'Andilly,  the  father  of  Poiuponne,  the  Minister,  and  the 


144     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

death  before  he  has  been  able  to  complete  it ;  the  Fronde 
has  broken  out ;  and  for  eighteen  years  the  sovereignty 
is  wielded  by  a  Spanish  Queen  and  an  Italian  Minister : 
Anne  of  Austria  and  Mazarin. 

It  is  customary  to  date  the  Spanish  influence  from 
the  great  success  of  the  Cid  and  the  Menteur ;  but  if 
something  more  be  in  view  than  a  mere  exchange  of 
subjects  between  the  two  literatures,  this  is  placing  the 
date  too  late  or  too  early.  It  is  too  late,  since  long 
before  Corneille  the  Astree,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
nothing  more  than  an  adaptation  in  the  French  spirit 
of  Montemayor's  Diane ;  since  Hardy,  Mairet,  and 
Botrou  had  done  little  else  than  imitate  or  translate 

author  of  the  Menwires  [1588 ;  t  1674] ; — Angelique  Arnauld,  who 
reformed  the  Port-Royal  [1591 ;  f  1661] ; — Agnes  Arnauld,  the 
authoress  of  the  Lettres  [1593;  t  1671]; — Antoine  Arnauld,  who 
shared  with  Louis  XIV.  the  honour  of  having  been  called  the  Great 
by  his  contemporaries. 

The  publication  of  his  book  La  Frequente  communion,  1643. — 
History  of  the  book  [Cf.  Eapin,  Memoires,  i.  22,  and  Sainte-Beuve, 
Port-Royal,  vol.  ii.]. — Whether  it  be  true,  as  Rapin  asserts,  that  no 
better  written  work  had  previously  appeared  in  French  ; — and  does  he 
not  overlook  the  Introduction  a  la  vie  devote  ? — In  what  respect  the 
book  was  really  an  innovation  ; — because  it  brought  theology  properly 
so  called  within  reach  of  the  lay  public. — As  to  the  authority  of  lay- 
men in  the  matter  of  religion. — The  Prince  of  Conde  [father  of  the 
Great  Conde]  refutes  Arnauld's  first  book  in  his  Remarques  chreticnnes 
et  catholiques,  1644 ; — another  refutation  by  the  learned  Father 
Petau  :  De  la  penitence  publique,  1644. — The  fortunes  of  Arnauld's 
book  come  to  be  bound  up  with  those  of  the  Augustinus,  for  which 
work  Arnauld  writes  an  apology  in  answer  to  the  bull  of  Urban 
VIII.  ; — and  in  this  way  the  Port-Koyal  becomes  the  fortress  of 
Jansenism. — Arnauld  s  conflicts  with  the  Sorbonne  ; — his  condemna- 
tion ; — appearance  on  the  scene  of  Pascal. 

Jansenism  becomes  a  definitely  organised  party; — its  numerous 
adherents; — the  "Mothers  of  the  Church":  Mme  de  Guenienee,' 
Mine  du  Plessis-Guenegand,  Mme  de  Sable,  the  Duchesse  de  Luynes, 
the  Duchesse  de  Longueville ; — and  in  this  connection,  of  the 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     145 

Cervantes,  Lopez  de  Vega,  and  Rojas ;  since  the 
Precieuses,  as  has  been  said,  confined  their  efforts  at  first 
to  acclimatising  Gongorism  in  France.  But  it  is  too 
early  if  the  object  in  view  be  to  fix  the  moment  when 
this  Spanish  influence  became  a  real  menace  to  the 
development  of  our  national  literature,  as  the  Italian 
influence  had-  been  in  the  past.  In  point  of  fact  it  is 
scarcely  prior  to  the  period  between  1645  and  1660  that 
our  dramatic  authors,  Thomas  Corneille,  Quinault,  or 
Scarron — to  mention  but  those  whose  names  are  not 
entirely  forgotten — wholly  restrict  their  activity  to 
imitating  the  Spanish  drama,  and  that  they  arrive  at  last 
at  such  a  pitch  that  they  are  even  unable  to  write  a  play 

imprudence  of  the  abbe  Fuzet's  scoffs  [Cf.  Les  premiers  Jansenistes, 
p.  154  and  following  pages]. — Growing  progress  of  the  party  under 
the  Fronde.— Alliance  between  Jansenism  and  Gallicanism. — A  pro- 
nouncement of  Ranke  on  the  subject  of  Jansenism  :  "  While  the 
Jesuits  were  piling  up  erudition  in  enormous  folios,  or  were  losing 
themselves  in  the  labyrinth  of  scholastic  systems  of  morals  and 
dogma,  the  Jansenists  addressed  themselves  to  the  nation."  [Histoire 
de  la  Papaute,  French  translation,  vol.  iii.,  p.  307], 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Of  Arnauld  d'Andilly  we  have  his  Memoires  ;  a 
translation  of  the  Confessions  of  St.  Augustin  ;  the  Vies  des  Peres  du 
desert,  without  counting  other  translations  and  a  considerable  number 
of  shorter  works  of  edification  or  controversy  ; — (2)  Of  Agnes  Arnauld, 
the  Lettres  published  or  rather  collected  by  M.  Faugere ; — (3)  Of 
Antoine  Arnauld,  "the  Doctor,"  one  hundred  and  forty  volumes  of 
works,  the  list  of  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  Dictionnaire  de  Moreri. 

We  are  not  aware  that  more  than  two  or  three  have  been  reprinted ; 
and  the  only  work  of  his  that  is  still  read  is  his  Logique  de  Port- 
Boyal  [written  in  collaboration  with  Nicole],  1662. 

XII.— The  Novel  since  The  "Astree." 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Huet,  De  Vorigine  des  romans,  preceding  Mine 
de  Lafayette's  Zayde,  Paris,  1671; — Gordon  de  Percel  [Lenglet- 
Dufresnoy],  De  I'usage  des  romans,  %  vols.,  Amsterdam,  1734; — G. 
Korting,  Geschichte  des  franzosischen  Bomans  im  XVII.  Jahrhundert, 
Oppeln  and  Leipsic,  1885-1887 ; — A.  Lebreton  Le  roman  au  XVII' 

11 


146     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

on  a  subject  of  their  own,  without  placing  the  scene  of  it 
in  Lisbon  or  Salamanca.  At  this  juncture,  there  becomes 
rampant  in  every  branch  of  literature  a  sort  of  exaltation, 
a  predilection  for  the  high-flown  that  amounts  to  extrava- 
gance. The  great  Corneille  in  person  persuades  himself, 
and  proclaims  in  his  preface  to  Heraclius,  "  that  the  sub- 
ject of  a  fine  tragedy  ought  to  be  improbable."  The 
Gascon  Gautier  de  Costes  de  la  Calprenede — his  name 
deserves  to  be  printed  in  full — and  Scuderi,  who  is  from 
Normandy,  and  who,  moreover,  in  this  matter  only  lends 
his  name  to  his  sister  Madeleine,  are  writing  their 
Ibrahim  and  their  Cassandre,  their  Cleopdtre  and  their 
Artam&ne,  genuine  novels  of  adventure,  which  stir  the 

siecle,  Paris,  1890 ; — P.  Morillot,  Le  roman  en  France  depuis,  1610  ; 
Paris,  1893. 

V.  Cousin,  La  societe  franqaise  au  XVIIC  siecle; — Rathery, 
Mademoiselle  de  Scudery,  Paris,  1873 ; — Rene  Kerviler,  Marin  Le 
Hoy  de  Gomberville,  Paris,  1876. 

2.  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  NOVEL. — That  the  influence  of  Descartes 
is  no  more  to  be  discerned  in  the  novel  than  in  the  drama ;— and 
that  it  hindered  the  novelists  and  their  readers  from  adopting  the 
Astree  as  their  standard,  as  little  as  it  had  affected  the  literary  career 
of  Corneille. — Can  it  be  said  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  Cartesian 
system  of  ./Esthetics  ?  [Cf.  Emile  Krantz,  VEsthetique  de  Descartes, 
Paris,  1882]  ; — and,  in  any  case,  the  reading  of  the  Grand  Cyrus  or 
of  Faramond'  would  never  lead  one  to  suppose  that  such  a  system 
exists. — It  is  the  influence  of  preciosity  that  continues  to  make  itself 
felt  in  these  works. 

The  idealist  tendency  of  the  novel  in  the  seventeenth  century ; — and 
that  parodies,  such  as  that  by  Sorel  in  his  Francion,  only  confirm  its 
existence ; — since  it  is  only  what  is  in  fashion  that  is  parodied. — The 
complicated  plots  of  these  works  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  as  to  the 
connection  between  Corneille's  tragic  drama  and  the  novels  of  La 
Calprenede  and  Mile  de  Scuderi. — In  both  cases  history  is  put  to 
the  same  use,  and  in  both  cases  there  is  the  same  preoccupation 
with  current  events. — The  novelists,  however,  ascribe  to  hazard 
what  Corneille  attributed  to  the  action  of  the  will. — The  epical 
structure  and  the  impersonal  character  of  the  novel  in  the  seven- 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     147 

imaginations  of  all  their  contemporaries,  while  the 
Picaresque  literature  is  giving  birth,  so  to  speak,  to 
burlesque  under  the  auspices  of  the  Scarrons,  the 
d'Assoucis,  and  the  Saint-Amants.  The  Italian  in- 
fluence comes  into  play  side  by  side  with  the  Spanish. 
Robortelli  or  Castelvetro  is  cited  in  justification  of 
criticisms  on  Corneille.  The  writers  of  epopees,  ren- 
dered prudent  for  half  a  century  by  the  failure  of 
the  Franciade,  take  courage  again  in  consequence  of 
Tasso  and  his  Gerusalemme.  Mazarin  acclimatises  the 
opera  in  France.  La  Fontaine,  who  is  beginning  his 
career,  completes  his  literary  education  by  the  study  of 
the  Decameron  ;  Moliere  produces  the  Etourdi ;  Boileau 

teenth  century. — Its  "  documentary  "  interest  and  its  psychological 
value. 

A.  Marin  Le  Roy  de  Gomberville.    [Chevreuse  or  Etampes,  1599, 
or   1600;    I    1674,    Paris].— His    Polexandre   [1629-1637].— In  this 
novel  the  kind  of  interest  found  in  the  Amadis  is  combined  with  a 
geographical  interest : — the  adventure  of  Prince  Zelmatide  and  the 
history  of  Mexico; — the  story  of  Almanzaire,  Queen  of  Senegal  ;-- 
the  adventure  of  the  Princess  Perselide  and  the  court  of  Morocco  ; — 
Analogy  between  the  sort  of  interest  offered  by  Polexandre  and  that 
of  certain  "  exotic  "  novels  of  our  own  time. 

B.  Gautier  de  Costes  de  la  Calprenede  [Cahors,  1609  or  1610 ;  1 1663, 
Andely-sur-Seine]. — A   few  words   as  to   La  Calprenede's   dramatic 
writings :  his  Mithridate,   1635 ;  his  Essex,  1639 ;  his  Hermenegilde, 
1643. — His  effort  to  combine  the  sort  of  interest  he  sees  is  taken  on 
the  one  hand  in  Gorneille's  and  on  the  other  in  Du  Eyer's  translations. 
— The  use  to  which  history  is  put  in  La  Calprenede's  novels ; — and 
the  sub-titles  that  might  be  given  them  ; — Cleopdtre,  or  the  dissolution 
of  the  Roman  Empire  ; — Faramond,  or  the  foundation  of  the  French 
monarchy. — The  declarations  of  Mine  de  Sevigne  on  the  subject  of 
La  Calprenede. — "  The  beauty  of  the  sentiments,  the  violence  of  the 
passions,  the  magnitude  of  the  events,  and  the  miraculous  efficacy 
of  their  redoubtable  sword,  all  these  features  entrance  me  as  ihey 
might  a  young   girl"  [letter   of  July  12,  1671];  and  in  a  letter  of 
July  15:  "As  to  the  sentiments  ...  I  confess  that  they  please  me 
and  that  their  perfection  is  such  as  to  satisfy  my  ideal  of  what  the 


148    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

chides  and  exclaims  in  a  tirade  that  will  afterwards 
disappear  from  his  first  satire : 

Who  can  to-day,  without  just  scorn, 

See  Italy  in  France,  and  Rome  in  Paris ! 

...  I  cannot  without  horror  and  without  pain 

See  the  Tiber  mingling  its  swollen  waters  with  the  Seine, 

And  flooding  Paris  with  its  children,  its  mountebanks, 

Its  language,  its  poisons,  its  crimes  and  its  manners. 

Where  is  a  trace  to  be  found  in  all  this  of  the  influence  of 
Descartes  and  Cartesianism  ?  No !  it  is  entirely  untrue 
that  the  publication  of  the  Discours  de  la  methode  was  an 
epoch-making  event  in  the  history  of  our  literature.  The 
contemporaries  of  Descartes,  while  full  of  admiration  for 

sentiments  of  noble  characters  ought  to  be." — Whether,  too,  La  Cal- 
prenede's  style  is  as  bad  as  Mme  de  Sevigne  alleges  it  to  be  in  the 
same  passage. — That  its  qualities  do  not  stand  comparison  with  those 
of  Corneille's  style ; — but  that  the  defects  of  both  styles  are  identical 
or  at  any  rate  kindred. — La  Calprenede's  abundant  imagination. — 
The  whole  of  his  art  consists  in  exciting  "  astonishment,"  which  he 
does  with  success. — Distant  but  indisputable  analogy  between  the 
novels  of  La  Calprenede  and  those  of  Alexandre  Dumas. 

C.  Madeleine  de  Scuderi  [Le  Havre,  1607  ;  1 1701,  Paris]. — Whether 
her  role  does  not  consist  in  her  having  adapted  preciosity  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  middle  classes  ?— In  any  case,  it  is  a  fact  that  she 
vulgarised  preciosity  by  superadding,  in  her  Artamene,  to  the 
adventures  in  Polexandre  and  to  the  historical  details  in  Cleopdtre : 
— (1)  allusions  to  and  portraits  of  the  men  and  women  of  "  precious  " 
society  [Cf.  Cousin,  Societe  francaise  au  XVII'  siecle\  ; — (2)  con- 
temporary episodes ;  for  example,  the  story  of  Scaurus  and  Lydiane 
(Scarron  and  Fran9oise  d'Aubigne)  in  her  Clelie ;  Hesiod's  dream  (a 
picture  of  the  literature  of  the  period) ;  the  description  of  the  "  country 
of  the  Tender  Passion"  (the  "Pays  de  Tendre  ") ; — and  (3)  a  polite- 
ness or  a  gallantry  very  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind  to  be  found 
in  La  Calprenede  or  de  Gomberville. — Perspicacity  of  some  of  her 
analysis  of  character. — Mile  de  Scuderi's  novels  are  "psychological" 
novels. 

The  success  of  all  these  novels  was  considerable. — For  example, 
there  were  four  or  five  editions  in  less  than  twenty  years  of  La 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE     149 

him  as  a  mathematician,  almost  ignored  him  as  a  philo- 
sopher. And  if  literature  finally  threw  off  the  yoke  of 
all  the  influences  that  seemed  in  league  to  prevent  its 
becoming  purely  French,  it  owes  its  release  to  entirely 
different  causes,  of  which  the  first  and  most  important 
was  the  revival  of  the  Christian  idea  under  the  guise  of 
the  Jansenist  idea. 

For  whatever  difference  there  may  be — and  such  a 
difference  doubtless  exists — between  the  Christian  and 
the  Jansenist  idea,  it  was  not  detected  at  the  outset ; 
and  while  to-day  it  is  no  longer  allowable  for  us  to 
confound  the  two  ideas,  it  is  a  fact  that  they  were 
confounded  for  a  time.  It  never  occurred  to  Jansenius, 

Calprenede's  Cassandre. — His  Cleopdtre  was  printed  by  the  Elzevirs, 
a  circumstance  that  was  in  itself  a  first  step  towards  fame  [Cf. 
Balzac's  letter  to  the  Elzevirs  reproduced  in  A.  Willem's  book,  Les 
Elzevier,  Brussels,  1880]. — There  are  German  and  Italian  transla- 
tions of  these  novels ; — English  imitations ; — and,  if  Pradon  is  to  be 
believed,  there  was  even  a  version  in  Arabic  of  the  Grand  Cyrus 
[Remarques  sur  tous  les  ouvrages  du  sieur  Despreaux,  The  Hague, 
1685]. — The  reasons  of  this  success  are  to  be  sought  for  hi  the  fact 
that  the  romantic  tone  of  the  works  was  in  accordance  with  the  spirit 
of  the  time ; — these  novels  did  as  much  as  or  more  than  more  vaunted 
works  to  establish  the  supremacy  of  the  French  language  and  of 
French  literature. 

3.  THE  WORKS.' — (1)  Of  Gomberville  : — Carithee,  1621 ; — Polexandre, 
1629-1637 ; — Cytheree,  1640  and  following  years  [2nd  edition  of  the 
earlier  volumes  hi  1642]  ; — La  Jeune  Alcidiane,  1651 :  "  This  is  a 
Jansenist  novel,"  wrote  Tallemant,  "for  its  heroes  are  preaching 
sermons  and  offering  up  prayers  at  every  turn  "  [Historiettes,  iv. 
467]. — There  is  also  a  collection  of  verses  by  Gomberville. 

(2)  Of    La    Calprenede : — Cassandre,    1642 ;— CUopdtre,    1647  ;— 
Faramond,   1661,   only  the   first  three  parts   of  which   are   by   La 
Calprenede.    The  novel  was  finished  by  P.  de  Vaumoriere,  1665.    We 
have  already  mentioned  that  La  Calprenede  wrote  several  tragedies. 

(3)  Of  Madeleine  de  Scuderi : — Ibrahim  ou  I'illustre  Bassa,  1641 ; 
— Artameneou  le  Grand  Cyrus,  1649-1653 ; — Clelie,hitstoireromaine, 
1654-1661. — There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  authorship  of  these  three 


150     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Saint-Cyran,  Saci,  Arnauld  and  their  followers  that  they 
were  engaged  on  a  different  work  from  that  of  a  Vincent 
de  Paul,  an  Olier,  a  Berulle,  or  a  Francois  de  Sales  ;  and  it 
was  not  till  later  that  their  initial  emulation  in  promoting 
the  good  of  mankind  was  transformed  into  mutual  hos- 
tility. If,  moreover,  as  is  proper  in  the  history  of  ideas, 
we  understand  by  Jansenism  less  a  rigorously  denned 
theological  doctrine  than  a  general  manner  of  feeling 
and  thinking,  it  will  be  found  that  Jansenism  is  not 
confined  to  the  Port-Royal  writers,  but  is  also  a 
characteristic  of  some  of  their  most  illustrious  adver- 
saries. The  style  that  will  most  closely  resemble  that  of 
Nicole,  "  a  grave,  serious,  scrupulous  style,"  will  be  the 

novels,  which,  although  they  purport  to  be  by  Georges,  are  certainly 
the  works  of  Madeleine. — It  is  less  certain  that  she  is  also  the 
authoress  of  Almahide  ou  Vesclave  reine,  1660-1663  [which,  moreover, 
is  unfinished]  ; — but  she  certainly  wrote  Mathilde  d'Aguilar,  1667,  a 
short  novel  which, — with  those  by  Segrais,  published  under  the  title 
Les  divertissements  de  la  princesse  Aurelie,1 — forms  the  link  between 
the  long  novels  of  this  period  and  Zayde  and  the  Princesse  de  Cleves. 
Mile  A.  Scudery  has  also  left  a  work  entitled  Conversations  morales, 
Paris,  1886 ; — and  an  interesting  Correspondence. 

XIII.— The  Heroic  Poem. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — The  Prefaces  to  Adone,  1623; — Alaric,  1654; — 
La  Pucelle,  1656; — Saint  Louys,  1658; — Boileau,  Art  poetique, 
"chant"  iii.,  1674; — Voltaire,  Essai  sur  la  poesie  epique,  1728. 

J.  Duchesne,  Histoire  des  poemes  epiques  francais  du  XVIF  siecle, 
Paris,  1870. 

Theophile  Gautier,  article  on  Scuderi  in  his  Grotesques.— Rathery, 
Mile  de  Scuderi  [Cf.  above]. 

Chapelain,  Correspondance  published  by  M.  Tamizey  de  Larroque 
in  the  collection :  Documents  historiques,  1880,  1883. — Les  douze 
derniers  chants  de  la  Pucelle,  with  an  introduction  by  M.  Rene 
Kerviler,  Orleans,  1882 ; — the  abbe  Fabre,  Les  Ennemis  de  Chapelain, 
Paris,  1888. 

Rene  Kerviler,  Jean  Desmarets  de  Saint-Sorlin,Paris,  1879. 

*  Racine  borrowed  the  subject  of  Bajazet  from  one  of  these  short  novels. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FEENCH  LITERATURE     151 

style  of  Father  Bourdaloue.  And  supposing  Jansenism, 
after  all,  as  was  the  case  with  Protestantism  before  it, 
to  have  done  the  Christian  idea  no  other  service  than 
that  of  forcing  it  on  the  attention  of  polite  society,  the 
achievement  would  be  sufficient  for  our  purpose.  We  are 
not  entitled  to  appeal  from  the  decisions  of  Borne  in  a 
matter  of  faith,  nor  to  reopen  the  quarrel,  nor  to  allege 
that  in  default  of  Jansenism  another  cause  would  not 
have  produced  its  effects ;  but  we  have  the  right  to 
ascribe  these  effects  to  Jansenism  if  it  were  indeed 
responsible  for  them ;  and  to  affirm  that  in  the  history 
of  our  literature  the  victory  of  the  Jansenist  idea  was  the 
triumph  of  the  Christian  idea. 

H.  Rigault,  Histoire  de  la  querelle  des  anciens  et  des  modernes, 
Paris,  1856 ; — P.  Delaporte,  S.J.,  Le  Merveilleux  dans  la  litterature 
francaise  sous  le  regne  de  Louis  XIV.,  Paris,  1891. 

2.  THE  AUTHORS. — Of  the  natural  relationship  between  the  novel 
and  the  epopee ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  histories  of  Herodotus 
and  of  Homer's  Odyssey. — The  seventeenth  century  was  well  aware 
of  this  relationship  [Cf.  the  preface  to  Polexandre  and  Ibrahim,  and 
Boileau,  Reflexions  sur  Longiii], — On  the  other  hand,  the  Heroic 
Poerus  of  the  period  are  not  the  outcome  of  a  natural  communication 
between  the  two  branches ; — all  their  authors  did  was  to  follow  in  the 
footsteps  of  Ronsard ; — it  was  also  their  ambition  to  emulate  the 
European  success  of  Tasso's  Gerusalemme  liberata ; — and,  in  this 
connection,  of  Tasso's  influence  on  French  literature. — Finally,  it  was 
the  current  opinion  that  the  dignity  of  France  demanded  that  the 
country  should  possess  its  Virgils  and  Homers. — The  double  error  of 
classicism : — as  to  the  necessary  condition  of  the  epopee ; — and  as  to 
the  efficacy  of  rules. — This  double  error  is  nowhere  more  apparent 
than  in  the  history  of  such  efforts  as  Alaric  or  La  Pucelle. — Another 
kind  of  interest  presented  by  these  works,  failures  and  unreadable 
though  they  be : — they  raised  the  question  of  the  utilisation  in 
literature  of  themes  drawn  from  Christianity ;  and  in  this  way,  as  will 
be  seen,  they  started  the  quarrel  between  the  ancients  and  moderns. 

A.  Georges  de  Scuderi  [Havre,  1601;  f  1667,  Paris].— The  first 
line  of  his  Alaric : 

I  sing  the  conqueror  of  the  earth's  conquerors. 


152     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOBY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATUBE 

It  is  in  view  of  these  considerations  that  the  appearance 
in  1643  of  Arnauld's  book  La  Frequente  Communion  marks 
a  date  of  importance.  "  No  devotional  book,  it  has  been 
said,  exerted  a  greater  influence,"  was  more  read,  more 
discussed,  even  by  women,  and  for  this  reason,  while  the 
work  did  not  take  the  direction  of  literary  opinion  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  Precieuses,  it  contributed  more  than  any 
other  book  to  divert  their  attention  from  merely  agreeable 
questions  towards  questions  of  a  more  serious  character. 
It  appeared,  too,  at  precisely  the  right  moment  to  bar 
the  possible  progress  of  Cartesianism  by  renewing  the 
authority  of  "tradition"  the  strength  of  which  might 


• — A  mixture  of  history,  fiction,  and  the  marvellous; — the  table  of 
contents  of  the  poem  Alaric :  list  of  the  "  descriptions  "  and  list  of  the 
"  comparisons." — The  unfailing  bad  taste  of  Scuderi ; — it  reaches  such 
a  pitch  that  it  almost  renders  him  witty,  by  leaving  the  impression  on 
the  reader  that  he  is  parodying  himself. 

B.  Jean  Chapelain  [Paris,  1595 ;  \  1674,  Paris]. — It  would  be  im- 
possible to  be  less  "Parisian"  and  less  "Gallic"  than  Chapelain, 
though  he  was  born  in  Paris,  lived  in  Paris  for  eighty  years,  and  died 
in  Paris. — It  is  strange  that  anybody  should  have  wished  to  revive  his 
reputation  [Cf.  V.  Cousin,  La  Societe  francaise,  vol.  ii.,  p.  158]. — 
His  admiration  for  the  Chevalier  Marin  and  his  preface  to  Adone, 
1628  ; — his  translation  of  Guzman  d'Alfarache,  1631 ; — his  reputation 
as  a  critic  ; — and  as  a  prose  writer. — His  role  in  the  quarrel  over  the 
Cid : — and  that  Les  Sentiments  de  UAcademie  sur  le  Cid  is  in  any 
case  his  best  work. — The  character  of  the  man ; — and  that  he  was 
one  of  the  most  commonplace  of  individuals,  and  one  of  the  most 
rancorous  as  well. 

The  theme  of  La  Pucelle ; — and  whether  it  be  true,  as  Cousin 
asserts,  that  a  finer  theme  does  not  exist. — Patriotism  and  aesthetics 
ought  not  to  be  mixed  up  uselessly ;  — and  that  what  Cousin  admires 
in  the  "plan"  of  La  Pucelle  is  precisely  what  constitutes  its 
inferiority. — Logic  and  Poetry. — Chapelain's  chief  pretension : — he 
desired  that  his  poem  should  be  at  once  history,  poetry,  and  a  moral 
allegory  [Cf.  his  preface]. — "  In  order  to  consider  action  under  its 
Universal  aspect,  in  accordance  with  the  precepts,  and  so  as  not  to 
deprive  it  of  the  allegorical  sense  by  which  Poetry  is  made  one  of  the  in- 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     153 

have  been  singularly  weakened  had  there  been  nothing 
to  counterbalance  the  influence  of  the  Discours  de  la 
niethode.  Shall  we  add  that  the  book  was  written  in 
French?  In  1643,  however,  this  circumstance,  whatever 
may  have  been  said  to  the  contrary,  was  only  a  novelty 
when  taken  in  connection  with  the  Augustinus  of  Jan- 
senius;  and  unhappily,  as  Sainte-Beuve  has  remarked,  the 
method  adopted  in  the  book  was  still  wholly  scholastic 
or  theological.  It  was  reserved  for  Pascal  to  have  done 
with  this  method,  and  to  bring  into  existence  a  prose  that 
should  be  purely  French,  by  ranging  talent  or  genius  on 
the  side  of  Jansenism  in  his  Lettres  provinciales.  [In 


struments  of  architectonics,  I  have  arranged  my  matter  in  such  sort 
that  .  .  .  France  represents  the  Soul  of  man,  .  .  .  King  Charles 
the  Will,  .  .  .  the  Englishman  and  the  Burgundian  the  transports 
of  the  irascible  appetite,  .  .  .  Amaury  and  Agnes  the  concupiscent 
appetite,  .  .  .  Tanneguy  the  Understanding,  .  .  .  the  Pucelle  (Joan 
of  Arc)  Divine  Grace,"  etc. — That  preoccupations  such  as  these  might 
have  cooled  a  more  ardent  imagination  than  Chapelain's.  —Prosaic 
character  of  his  verse  [Cf.  his  Pere  eternel,  ch.  i. ;  his  portrait  of 
Agnes  Sorel,  ch.  v. ;  the  description  of  the  burning  of  Joan  of  Arc, 
ch.  xxiii.]. 

That  it  must  be  well  understood  that  in  spite  of  the  legend — the 
publication  of  the  Pucelle  in  no  way  diminished  the  reputation  or  the 
literary  authority  of  Chapelain. — There  were  six  editions  of  his  Pucelle 
in  less  than  two  years. — The  work  was  praised  in  high-flown  terms  by 
Godeau,  Menage,  Gassendi,  Huet,  and  Montausier  [Cf.  Goujet, 
Bibliotheque  francaise,  vol.  xvii.,  p.  378,  etc.]. — It  is  Chapelain  who  is 
chosen  by  Colbert  in  1661  for  a  part  that  may  be  described  as 
"  superintendent  of  letters"  ; — and  the  truth  is  that,  until  the  time  of 
Boileau,  the  only  reproach  made  the  Pucelle  is  that  it  is  tedious  ;  —a 
criticism  of  which  Polyeucte  had  also  been  the  object. 

C.  Jean  Desmarets  de  Saint-Sorlin  [Paris,  1595 ;  f  1676,  Paris].  He 
attempted  every  branch  of  literature  :— the  novel,  in  his  Ariane,  1632  ; 
— comedy,  in  his  Visionnaircs,  1637  ; — tragedy,  in  his  Erigone,  1638  ; 
—in  his  Scipion,  1639 ; — lyric  poetry,  in  his  Office  de  la  Vierge,  1645  ; 
— epopee,  in  his  Clovis,  1657.— Moreover  the  sole  interest  of  Clovis 
lies  in  the  preface  to  the  edition  of  1673,  in  which  Desmarets,  almost 


154 

this  work,  and  in  it  alone,  are  found  united  all  the 
qualities  to  attain  to  which  had  been  the  incessant  effort 
of  the  writers  of  the  previous  fifty  years.  For  almost 
the  first  time,  the  Provinciates  brought  within  reach  of 
whoever  could  read  those  great  problems,  of  which  it 
really  seemed  as  if  the  theologians  had  desired  to  deprive 
us  of  a  knowledge  or  to  hide  from  us  the  interest,  by 
overloading  them  with  the  weight  of  their  erudition 
and  dialectics.  Even  that  air  of  fashion,  that  ease 
and  distinction  of  manner,  that  sprightly  and  graceful 
wit  to  which  so  much  importance  and  so  much  mystery 
were  attached  by  the  Precieuses,  peeped  forth  from 


for  the  first  time,  sets  forth  clearly  the  theory  of  "  the  literary  uses  of 
Christianity." 

There  is  no  occasion  to  allude  to  the  writers  of  epopee  who  were  the 
rivals  of  Desmarets  and  Chapelain. — The  Saint-Louys  of  Pere  Le 
Moyne  has  fallen  into  utter  oblivion, — and  this  in  spite  of  the  efforts 
that  have  been  made  to  resuscitate  it. — The  century  was  already  too 
reasonable, — and  above  all  too  ordered  for  the  writing  of  an  epopee  to 
have  been  possible  at  the  period. — Nevertheless,  from  a  feeling  of 
national  pride,  Frenchmen  will  obstinately  continue  to  produce 
epopees  from  generation  to  generation ; — and  while  it  is  the  habit 
to  talk  of  the  continuity  of  dramatic  production ; — that  of  pseudo- 
epic  production  will  remain  no  less  regular  in  France. 

XIV.— Comedy  from  1640  to  1658. 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — The    brothers    Parfaict,    Histoire    dw    theatre 
franqais,  vols.  vi.,  vii.,  and  viii. ; — Lens,  Dictionnaire  des  theatres; — de 
Puibusque,  Histoire  comparee  des  litteratures  frangaise  et  espagnole, 
Paris,  1843 ; — L.  de  Viel-Castel,  Essai  sur  le  theatre  espagnole  in  the 
Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  1840,  1841,  1846 ; — V.  Fournel,  Les   con- 
temporains  de  Moliere,  Paris,  1863-1875. 

Goujet,  Bibliotheque  francaise,  articles  SCAKRON,  vol.  xvii.,  and 
QUINAULT,  vol.  xviii. ; — Morillot,  Scarron,  sa  vie  et  ses  ceuvres,  Paris, 
1888 ;— G.  Eeynier,  Thomas  Corneille,  Paris,  1892. 

2.  THE  TRANSITION  FROM  CORNEILLE  TO  MOLIERE. — Of  the  utility 
of  statistics ; — and  that  they  prove  better  than  anything  else  that  the 
history  of  literature  and  literary  history  are  two  different  matters. — 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE     155 

amid  the  theology  of  the  Lettres  Provinciates.  The 
tone  varied  from  letter  to  letter  in  accordance  with  the 
changing  necessities  of  the  controversy,  and  great  as 
might  be  the  gulf  between  direct  and  personal  satire  and 
the  highest  eloquence,  the  author  bridged  it  with  a 
successful  mastery,  of  which  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
that  it  enraptured  the  reader.  No  comedy  that  had  ever 
been  put  on  the  stage  had  produced  so  delightful  an 
impression.  No  more  eloquent  utterance  had  ever  been 
made  even  from  the  pulpit.  Moreover,  if  the  necessity 
were  felt  of  opposing  to  the  corruption  of  manners,  to  the 
growing  relaxation  of  the  discipline  formerly  in  force,  not 


During  the  twenty  years.  1640-1660,  there  were  played  or  printed 
more  than  two  hundred  tragedies,  tragi-comedies,  comedies  or 
pastoral  plays ; — how  many  of  them  have  survived  ? — or  of  how 
many  of  the  authors  are  the  names  remembered  ? — It  would  seem, 
then,  that  between  the  Menteur  and  Les  Precieuses  ridicules  there 
was  nothing  but  ...  a  void  ; — which  accounts  for  the  honour  that  is 
accorded  the  Menteur  of  having  paved  the  way  for  the  comedy  of 
Moliere. — What  is  to  be  thought  of  this  allegation  [Cf.  Les  epoques  du 
theatre  francais}. — That  in  reality  something  did  take  place  between 
1640  and  1660 ; — and  that  what  it  was  may  be  gathered  from  the 
statistics  themselves. 

Tragedy  continues  to  gain  ground  ; — and  of  the  two  hundred  plays 
referred  to  it  claims  scarcely  less  than  a  half ; — among  which  are 
included  Horace,  Cinna,  Polyeucte,  Pompee,  Rodogune,  Heraclius,  to 
say  nothing  of  Theodore  or  Pertharite  ; — and  much  below  these,  but 
still  of  a  certain  rank,  the  Saint-Gencst,  1646  ;  the  Wenceslas,  1647  ; 
the  Cosroes,  1649,  of  Eotrou ; — the  Saiil,  1639,  and  the  Scevole,  1646, 
of  Du  Byer ; — the  Mort  de  Seneque,  1644 ; — the  Mort  de  Crispe,  1645  ; 
and  the  Mort  du  Grand  Osman,  1647,  of  Tristan  1'Hermite. —  Tragi- 
comedy, on  the  other  hand,  with  only  fifty  plays  during  the  same 
period,  loses  ground ; — while  it  is  comedy  that  makes  progress  at  its 
expense. — According  to  the  exact  figures  given  by  the  brothers 
Parfaict,  from  thirty-nine  plays  [1639-1646]  tragi-comedy  falls  to 
sixteen  [1646-1653]  and  then  to  twelve  [1653-1660],  while  comedy 
advances  from  eighteen  to  tiventy-five  and  from  twenty-five  to  twenty  - 
eight. — Conclusion :  plays  of  a  clearly  defined  order  are  ousting  and 
will  soon  entirely  supplant  those  of  a  hybrid  or  doubtful  kind. 


156     MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY  OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE 

indeed  a  new  morality,  but  rather  a  morality  of  which 
some  even  of  those  whose  mission  it  was  to  teach  it 
were  oblivious,  it  was  just  this  morality  that  was  con- 
tained in  the  Provinciates.  And  finally  and  above  all — 
I  only  speak  from  the  point  of  view  of  literature — if  the 
aspiration  of  the  moment  was  to  be  natural,  and  the 
efforts  in  this  direction  had  as  yet  been  unavailing;  if 
a  mistake  had  been  made  hitherto  as  to  the  means  by 
which  this  end  was  to  be  attained,  the  Provinciates  were 
at  once  the  signal  and  the  model  that  had  been  awaited. 
"  The  first  book  of  genius  to  appear  in  prose,  Voltaire  has 
said,  was  the  collection  of  the  Lettres  provinciates  "  ;  and 


But  while  the  true  nature  of  tragedy  has  been  determined  by  the 
masterpieces  of  Corneille,  comedy  is  hesitating  between  two  or  three 
directions  ; — writers  have  discovered  the  art  of  drawing  tears ; — they 
are  still  in  search  of  that  of  provoking  laughter. — Thomas  Corneille 
[1625 ;  f  1709]  endeavours  to  solve  the  problem  by  putting  on  the 
stage  romantic  and  complicated  adventures ; — Philippe  Qtiinault 
[1635 ;  f  1688]  by  combining  a  realism  of  detail  that  is  suggestive  of 
the  humbleness  of  his  birth  ; — with  an  insipid  gallantry  that  gives  a 
foretaste  of  his  operas ; — Paul  Scarron  [1610 ;  f  1660]  by  what  Moliere 
will  term  his  "  buffoonery,"  that  is  by  the  most  exaggerated  caricature, 
when  he  does  not  have  recourse  to  obscenity. — Moreover  all  three 
writers  continue  to  go  to  Spain  for  their  models. — Dom  Japhet 
d'Armenie,  1652,  is  an  adaptation  of  a  comedy  by  Moreto. — Les 
Rivales,  1653,  is  merely  a  fresh  version  of  Rotrou's  Pucelles,  which 
itself  is  said  to  have  been  borrowed  from  Lope  de  Vega ; — Le  charme 
de  la  voix,  1653,  is  an  imitation  of  a  comedy  by  Moreto. — It  seems  as 
if  all  these  authors  had  "eyes  that  see  not"  and  "ears  that  hear 
not";  and  hence  it  is  that,  in  a  certain  sense,  all  these  dramas  are 
merely  of  interest  to  the  curious. 

Still  they  accustom  the  public  to  distinguish  between  the  elements 
of  its  pleasure,  with  a  view  to  experiencing  a  pleasure  that  shall  be 
keener  and  more  complete ; — and  the  fact  is  it  is  only  Eabelais  that 
makes  us  laugh  and  cry  at  the  same  time. — The  public  is  about  to  set 
its  face  against  the  mixing  up  of  the  different  branches  of  the  drama ; 
— an  attitude  that  constitutes  a  first  step  towards  naturalness. — The 
language  also  becomes  more  natural ; — it  grows  more  supple,  more 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE      157 

a  little  further  on  he  makes  "  the  fixing  of  the  language  " 
coincide  with  the  issue  of  this  work.  This  assertion  is 
excellent  as  far  as  it  goes,  but  it  does  not  go  far  enough. 
Another  and  still  more  important  period  dates  from 
the  issue  of  the  Provinciates — that  of  the  determina- 
tion of  the  characteristics  of  classic  literature  and  of  the 
classic  ideal. 

The  sun  has  arisen,  let  the  stars  retire  ! 

Were  it  not  that  this  line  of  Scuderi's  is  slightly  ridicu- 
lous, this  would  be  the  appropriate  time  and  place  to  cite 
it.  The  "naturalness"  of  the  Provinciates  made  no  im- 


diversified ; — the  vocabulary  of  Thomas  Corneille  is  copious ;  Quinault 
is  fluent ;  Scarron  is  often  spirited ; — and,  in  this  connection,  a  com- 
parison between  the  comedy  of  L'Ecolier  de  Salamanque  or  of  Dom 
Japliet  d'Armenie  and  that  of  Buy  Bias  or  of  Tragaldabas. — Finally 
even  a  taste  for  the  burlesque  necessitates  a  measure  of  observation  ; 
— since  a  caricature  is  only  good  when  it  offers  a  resemblance  with 
what  is  caricatured. 

3.  THE  WORKS  : — of  Scarron :  Jodelet  ou  le  maitre  valet,  1645  ; — 
Les  trois  Dorothees,  1646 ; — of  Th.  Corneille :  Les  engagements 
du  hasard,  1647  ;  — Le  Feint  Astrologue,  1648 ; — of  Scarron :  L'Heritier 
ridicule,  1649 ; — Th.  Corneille :  Don  Bertrand  de  Cigarral,  1650 ; 
— Iu 'Amour  a  la  mode,  1651 ; — Scarron  :  Dom  Japhet  d'Arrnenie, 
1653 ; — Th.  Corneille  :  Le  Berger  extravagant,  1653 ; — Le  Charme  de 
la  voix,  1653 ; — Quinault :  Les  Rivales,  1653  ; — Scarron  :  L'Ecolier  de 
Salamanque,  1654 : — Th.  Corneille :  Les  Illustres  Ennemis,  1654 ; — 
Quiuault :  L'Amant  indiscret,  1654 ; — Scarron :  Le  Gardien  de  soi- 
meme,  1655 ; — Th.  Corneille :  Le  Geolier  de  soi-meme,  1655  ; — Quinault 
La  Comedie  sans  comedie,  1655 ; — Scarron :  Le  Marquis  ridicule,  1656. 

The  best  edition  of  Scarron  is  that  published  by  Welstein  in  seven 
volumes,  Amsterdam,  1752; — of  Thomas  Corneille,  that  by  David  in 
five  volumes,  Paris,  1748 ; — and  of  Quinault,  that  by  Duchesne  in  five 
volumes,  Paris,  1778. 

XV. — Burlesque. 

It  would  be  sufficient  to  mention  burlesque  and  then  to  refer  the 
reader  to  Boileau,  were  there  not  three  remarks  to  be  made  with 


158     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH    LITERATURE 

pression  upon  the  men  of  the  preceding  generation,  upon 
the  aged  Corneille,  for  example ;  and  when  the  author  of 
the  Cid,  after  having  stood  aloof  from  the  theatre  for  six 
years,  resumes  writing  for  the  stage  in  1659,  it  will  be 
with  his  (Edipe,  to  be  followed  shortly  afterwards  by  his 
Sertorius  or  his  Othon  !  On  the  other  hand,  to  all  the 
young  and  ardent  writers  the  Lettres  Provinciales  were  a 
revelation. 

Shall  I  say  that  Bossuet  himself  was,  as  it  were, 
transformed  by  the  work?  The  expression  might  seem 
somewhat  strong;  and  yet,  seeing  that  his  eloquence 
never  made  greater  progress  than  in  passing  from  his  first 


respect  to  the  origin  of  this  branch  of  literature ; — its  true  character ; 
— and  its  consequences : 

(1)  It  is  of  neither  French  nor  Gallic  origin ; — and  Saint- Amant, 
Scai'ron  and  d'Assouci  in  no  wise  continued  the  tradition  of  Rabelais. 
— It  is  in  the  main  of  Italian  [Cf.  Vianey,  Mathurin  Regnier,  Paris, 
1896]  ; — and  in  part  of  Spanish  origin  [Cf.  the  entire  series  of  the 
Picaresque  Romances] . 

With  regard  to  its  true  character,  one  is  tempted  to  connect  it  with 
preciosity. — Voiture  in  his  "  petty  "  verse  [Cf.  A  une  demoiselle  qui 
avail  les  manches  de  sa  chemise  retroussees  et  sales,  and  the  verses 
A  Mile  de  Bourbon  qui  avait  pris  medecine],  displayed  a  tendency 
towards  burlesque ; — while  Saint-Amant  and  Scarron  were  members 
of  "precious"  society. — The  Precieux  aimed  at  being  more  refined 
than  nature  and  truth ; — the  writers  of  burlesque  at  exaggerating 
nature  and  truth ; — but  both  classes  of  writers  belong  to  the  school 
whose  motto  we  quoted  above  : 

Chi  non  sa  far  stupir,  vada  alia  striglia  .  .  . 

Their  object  is  to  excite  admiration ; — and  the  means  all  of  them 
employ  to  this  end  is  to  excite  astonishment. 

Finally,  an  important  consequence  of  burlesque  was  to  break  up 
the  party  of  the  libertines  into  two  groups : — on  the  one  side  the 
Scarrons  or  the  Saint-Amants,  who  will  put  up  with  anything  pro- 
vided they  be  free  to  follow  their  humour ; — on  the  other  those  who 
care  less  for  being  at  liberty  to  live  as  they  choose,  than  for  the  right 
to  think  as  they  please. 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     159 

manner  to  his  second,  between  1653  and  1658 — from  the 
Sermon  sur  la  bonte  et  la  rigueur  de  Dieu  to  the  Panegyrique 
de  saint  Paul, — how  can  one  refrain  from  noting  that  this 
progress  coincides  exactly  with  the  moment  at  which  the 
Lettres  Provinciates  were  at  the  height  of  their  vogue? 
It  was  the  example  of  Pascal,  too,  that  liberated  the 
genius  of  Boileau,  since,  as  we  are  aware,  his  first  Satires 
were  composed  between  1658  and  1660,  while,  in  addition, 
the  admiration  Boileau  will  entertain  for  the  Provinciales 
throughout  his  life  is  no  secret.  The  truth  is,  it  is  this 
book  that  will  convert  him  in  the  end  to  Jansenism  !  In 
the  meantime,  however,  it  is  also  the  Provinciales  that 


XVI.— Blaise  Pascal  [Clermont-Ferrand,  1623;  f  1662  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Mme  Perier  (Gilberte  Pascal),  Vie  de  Pascal, 
1684 ; — Bayle,  Dictionnaire,  article  PASCAL,  1696 ; — Condorcet,  Eloge 
de  Pascal,  in  his  collected  works,  1776 ; — Bossut,  Discours  sur  la  vie 
et  les  ouvrages  de  M.  Pascal,  1779  ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Port-Royal,  vols.  ii. 
and  iii. ; — Victor  Cousin,  Jacqueline  Pascal,  1844 ; — Lelut,  VAmulette 
de  Pascal,  1846 ; — Gazier,  Le  Roman  de  Pascal,  in  the  Revue 
politique  et  litteraire,  November  24,  1877 ;— J.  Bertrand,  Blaise 
Pascal,  Paris,  1891 ; — Ch.  Adam,  Pascal  and  Mile  de  Roannez,  Dijon, 
1891. 

Bauny,  Somme  des  pecJies  qui  se  commettent  en  tons  etats,  1630 ; — 
Caramuel  y  Lobkowiez,  Tlieologia  moralis  ad  clarissima  principia 
reducta,  1643 ; — Escobar,  Liber  tlieologia  moralis,  1656,  Paris,  42nd 
edition ; — the  Notices  preceding  most  of  the  editions  of  the  Pro- 
vinciales ; — Reponses  aux  Lettres  provinciates,  1657,  by  Fathers 
Annat,  Nouet  and  Brisacier,  S.J. ; — Daniel,  S.  J.,  Entretiens  de 
Cleandre  et  d'Eudoxe,  1694; — Sainte-Beuve,  Port-Royal,  vol.  iii. 

Garasse,  Doctrine  curieuse  des  beaux  esprits,  1623 ; — Et.  Perier, 
Preface  (anonymous)  to  the  first  edition  of  the  Pensees,  1670 ; — 
Voltaire,  Remarques  sur  les  Pensees  de  M.  Pascal,  1728-1734 ; — 
Boullier,  Sentiments  sur  la  critique  des  Pensees  de  Pascal,  1741 ; — 
Condorcet's  edition  of  the  Pensees,  1776 ; — the  Notices  preceding  the 
editions  of  the  Pensees  from  that  of  Frantin,  Dijon,  1835,  to  that 
of  M.  Guthlin,  Paris,  1896; — A.  Vinet,  Etudes  sur  Blaise  Pascal, 


160     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

open,  or  unseal,  so  to  speak,  the  eyes  of  Moliere.  For  the 
date  of  the  Etourdi  is  1653,  and  that  of  the  Depit  amoureux 
1655 ;  but  by  what  masterpiece  in  its  class  were  these 
imbroglios  in  the  Italian  manner  followed  in  their  turn  ? 
It  is  clear  that  Moliere,  Boileau  and  Bossuet  read  the 
Lettres  provinciales.  But  supposing  we  had  no  proof  of 
this,  there  would  remain  the  fact  that  the  Provinciales, 
by  completing  the  purification  of  the  literary  atmosphere 
of  the  time,  and  sweeping  from  it  the  last  obscuring 
clouds,  at  any  rate,  by  rendering  them  possible,  paved  the 
way  for  almost  all  the  masterpieces  that  are  about  to 
succeed  the  work  of  Pascal.  The  Provinciales  founded  a 


1833-1844  [collected  in  a  single  volume,  1848] ; — Victor  Cousin, 
Etudes  sur  Pascal,  Paris,  1842,  1844 ; — Saint-Beuve,  Port-Royal, 
vol.  iii. ; — abbe  Maynard,  Pascal,  sa  vie,  son  caractere  et  ses  ecrits, 
Paris,  1890 ;  G.  Dreydorst,  Pascal,  sein  Leben  und  seine  Kampfe, 
Leipsic,  1870 ; — Gory,  Les  Pensees  de  Pascal  considerees  comme 
apologie  du  christianisme,  Paris,  1883 ; — Edouard  Droz,  Etude  sur 
Ic  scepticisme  de  Pascal,  Paris,  1886 ; — Sully  Prudhomme,  La  pliilo- 
sopliie  de  Pascal,  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  July,  October, 
and  November,  1890. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — Diversity  of  the  opinions  that 
have  been  formed  on  Pascal. — Some  [Voltaire  and  Condorcet]  have 
regarded  him  as  a  mere  "fanatic,"  or  at  least  as  a  "sectary"; — 
others  have  made  him  out  to  be  a  "  mystic  "  ; — others  [Sainte-Beuve] 
a  semi- Romanticist,  by  fits  and  starts  a  believer  and  an  unbeliever. — 
There  have  also  been  critics  who  have  reproached  him  with  "  scepti- 
cism "  [Cf.  V.  Cousin,  Etudes  sur  Pascal;  and  in  the  contrary  sense, 
Droz,  Etude  sur  le  scepticisme  de  Pascal,  p.  18,  etc.], — and,  in  this 
connection,  of  the  numerous  false  ideas  on  literary  questions  put  in 
circulation  by  V.  Cousin. — That  this  diversity  of  interpretation  is 
solely  due  : — to  the  mutilated  state  in  which  the  Pensees  have  come 
down  to  us ; — to  the  mistaken  view  according  to  which  the  Pensees 
are  regarded  as  Pascal's  "  confession,"  whereas  they  are  only  the 
material  for  a  work  of  Christian  apologetics ; — and  to  the  insufficient 
attention  that  has  been  given  to  the  fact  that  Pascal's  life  was  broken 
up  into  several  successive  periods. 

Pascal's    birth. — His    family ; — his   education  ; — precociousness   of 


school  of  writers  who  were  to  take  nature  for  their  model, 
a  school  that  is  equidistant  from  the  stiltedness  of  Balzac 
and  the  preciosity  of  Voiture,  authors  whose  character- 
istics were  determined  in  each  case  by  the  ambition  to 
ornament,  embellish,  and  disguise  nature ;  and  thus 
it  came  about,  by  one  of  those  ironies  frequent  in 
history,  that  it  was  the  man  who  of  all  our  great 
writers  was  most  hostile  to  nature, — and  even  to  reason 
— owing  to  his  uncompromising  moral  attitude,  that 
it  was  nevertheless  this  man  who  had  the  chief  hand 
in  influencing  Moliere  and  Boileau,  and  I  now  add 
La  Fontaine  and  Eacine,  in  the  direction  of  "  the 


his  genius  [Cf.  J.  Bertrand,  Pascal] ;  his  Traite  des  sections  coniques, 
1639 ; — his  arithmetical  machine,  1642  ; — his  experiments  on  vacant 
space,  1646 ;— and  that  these  efforts  afford  sufficient  evidence  of  the 
great  inventive  talent,  the  possession  of  which  has  been  foolishly 
denied  him  [Cf.  a  diatribe  by  Nodier  in  his  Questions  de  litterature 
legate], — His  conversion  to  Jansenism,  1646  ; — and  his  first  serious 
illness  [Cf .  Mine  Perier,  Vie  de  Pascal] ; — first  relations  with  the 
Port-Eoyal. — Pascal's  experience  of  society,  1649-1653 ; — his  rela- 
tions with  the  Chevalier  de  Mere  and  the  Due  de  Roannez. 
— The  alleged  romance  in  the  life  of  Pascal. — Was  Pascal  a 
"  gambler  "  as  Saint-Beuve  has  asserted ; — "  handsome,  a  physical 
sufferer,  a  mixture  of  languidness  and  ardour,  impetuous  and  delibe- 
rate, proud  and  melancholy  "  as  Cousin  sketches  him ; — or,  as  another 
writer  holds,  had  he  an  ambition  to  play  a  part  in  politics  [Cf. 
Derome  in  his  edition  of  the  Provinciales]. — That  without  these 
suppositions  we  can  understand  his  having  studied  the  theory  of 
probabilities ; — his  having  written  the  Discours  sur  les  passions  de 
V amour,  supposing  it  to  be  indeed  his  work ; — and  his  being  the 
author  of  the  remarks  which  Nicole  has  collected  under  the  title  Dis- 
cours sur  la  condition  des  grands. — Pascal's  second  conversion, 
1654 ; — and  that  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  passage  from  a  religion 
allowing  some  freedom  of  observance  to  a  stricter  religion. — His  visits 
to  Port-Koyal. — The  influence  his  sister  Jacqueline  obtains  over  him 
[Cf.  V.  Cousin,  Jacqueline  Pascal,  and  in  particular  the  two  letters  of 
Sister  Sainte-Euphemie  (Jacqueline)  to  Mme  Perier,  p.  240,  etc.]. — 
Whether  the  Entretien  avec  M.  de  Saci  is  to  be  ascribed  to  this 

12 


162     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

imitation  of  nature"  and  of  respect  for  the  "rights  of 
reason." 

It  is  impossible  to  imagine  two  geniuses  more  unlike 
than  the  genius  of  Moliere  and  that  of  Racine,  unless 
indeed  it  be  yet  more  difficult  to  draw  a  parallel 
between  the  heedless  Epicureanism  of  La  Fontaine  and 
the  middle-class  staidness  of  Boileau.  And  yet,  in  spite 
of  their  dissimilarity,  these  four  great  men  not  only  knew 
and  appreciated  each  other,  but  were  united  by  a  real 
affection ;  and  the  hostelry,  whose  name  has  not  come 
down  to  us,  where  Bonsard  and  Du  Bellay  met  on  a  day 
in  the  year  1548,  is  not  more  famous  in  literary  history 

period ; — his  invention  of  the  dray  ; — of  the  wheel-barrow ; — he  hits 
on  the  idea  of  omnibuses. — Definite  conversion  and  entry  into  Port- 
Royal,  1655.— The  miracle  of  the  Holy  Thorn,  March,  1656  [Cf. 
Jacqueline  Pascal], — Whether  it  was  not  at  this  juncture  that  Pascal 
planned  writing  his  Pensees,  but  was  hindered  from  executing  his 
design  owing  to  circumstances  inducing  him  to  produce  the  Pro- 
vinciales  ? — Advantages  of  this  hypothesis. — It  explains  at  once  the 
growing  boldness  of  the  Provinciales  from  the  sixth  and  seventh 
onwards; — and,  in  the  later  Letters,  the  close  and  too  little  heeded 
connection  there  is  between  the  conclusion  of  the  Provinciales  and 
the  general  scheme  of  the  Pensees. 

The  question  of  fact  in  the  first  three  Letters, — and  that  it  is  of 
slight  importance. — The  way  in  which  Pascal,  by  changing  his  tactics 
from  the  fourth  letter  onwards,  raised  the  real  question  at  issue, 
which  concerned  the  essence  of  the  matter  in  dispute, — and  put  it  on 
its  proper  ground. — The  point  to  be  decided  was  whether  the  Jesuits 
or  the  Jansenists  should  direct  opinion ; — and,  more  generally, 
whether  an  almost  "  society  "  morality  should  triumph  or  an  uncom- 
promising morality  [Cf.,  in  the  Pensees,  the  fragment  entitled :  Com- 
paraison  des  premiers  Chretiens  et  de  ceux  daujourd'hui\. — It  may 
be  that  Pascal,  while  -  he  was  right  in  attacking  the  excesses  of 
Probabilisrn,  made  a  mistake  in  scoffing  at  the  same  time  at  casuistics ; 
— and  that  this  mistake  is  of  far  graver  import  than  the  fact  that  he 
tampered  with  some  few  quotations. — For  in  the  place  of  the  few 
quotations  of  which  the  absolute  exactitude  is  open  to  question,  he 
could  have  found  a  score  of  others ; — whereas,  although  he  may  have 


163 

than  that  classic  tavern  of  the  "  Mouton  Blanc,"  at 
which  foregathered  Ariste  and  Gelaste,  Acanthe  and 
Polyphile.  What  was  there  in  common  between  the 
four  friends  ?  Merely  two  or  three  ideas,  and  no  more, 
but  two  or  three  ideas  that  were  fruitful.  All  four 
of  them  believed  that  the  essential  principle  of  art 
consists  in  the  imitation  of  nature,  and,  in  this  con- 
nection, I  have  been  at  pains  to  show,  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  that  what  the  four  admired  in  the  ancients 
was  the  fidelity  with  which  they  had  imitated  nature 
[Cf.  Evolution  des  genres,  vol.  i.,  Paris,  1889].  It  was 
not  at  all  because  they  were  the  ancients  that  they 

won  over  to  his  severity  a  few  souls  of  exceptional  purity,  he  ran  the 
risk  of  offending  others  of  less  purity,  but  souls  for  all  that  [Cf .  Sainte- 
Beuve,  Port-Royal,  bk.  iii.,  the  chapter  on  the  morality  of  the 
average  man]. — The  Provinciales,  from  the  fourth  to  the  fifteenth 
inclusive,  went  near  to  ruining  the  moral  credit  of  the  Jesuits  ; — but 
they  would  have  proved  as  well  the  destruction  of  a  part  of  religion 
itself ; — had  not  the  scheme  of  the  forthcoming  Pensees  come  into 
sight  in  the  three  last  Letters. 

The  first  edition  of  the  Pensees,  1670 ; — and  the  successive  additions 
to  the  text : — in  1727  [letter  of  the  bishop  of  Montpellier  to  the 
bishop  of  Soissons]  ; — in  1728  [Pere  Desmolet's  Memoires  de  littera- 
ture  et  d'histoire], — in  1776  [Condorcet's  edition], — in  1779  [Bossut's 
edition], — in  1841  [V.  Cousin's  observations], — in  1844  [Faugere's 
edition], — in  1879  [Molinier's  edition]. — Is  it  possible  to  determine 
the  plan  of  the  Apology  projected  by  Pascal  ?— Efforts  in  this 
direction  of  Frantin,  1835  ; — Faugere,  1844  ; — Astie,  1856 ; — Eocher, 
1873 ; — Molinier,  1879. — That  they  have  all  failed,  as  all  similar 
attempts  will  fail,  so  far  as  arranging  the  fragments  of  the  unfinished 
book  in  their  proper  place  is  concerned. — But  it  is  possible  to  form  a 
general  idea  of  the  projected  work  ; — the  spirit  in  which  such  an  idea 
is  to  be  conceived  is  given  by  the  spirit  of  the  Augustinus  itself ; — 
admitting  Pascal's  Pensees  to  be  the  fragments  of  a  Jansenist  work  of 
apologetics. — To  the  Augustinus  are  to  be  added  among  the  books 
read  by  Pascal :  Montaigne's  Essais ;  Charron's  Sagexse ;  Du  Vair's 
Epictete  and  Sainte  Philosophic ;  Balzac's  Lettres  and  Traites. — This 
list  indicates  as  it  were  the  worldly  element  [the  element  of  a  nature 


164     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY    OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

admired  them,  and  they  have  said  so  clearly  enough  : 
"  The  ancients  are  the  ancients  and  we  are  the  men  of 
the  present  day";  but  they  admired  them  "for  having 
excelled  in  hitting  off  nature,"  doubtless  because  they 
were  nearer  to  nature :  Novitas  turn  florida  mundi  \ 
They  believed,  in  the  second  place,  that  to  allow  that 
the  imitation  of  nature  is  the  principle  or  the  "begin- 
ning "  of  art,  is  to  declare  in  plain  language  that  it  is 
not  the  object  or  the  "end"  of  art,  and  they  held 
that  a  writer  fails  to  fulfil  his  mission  or  his  function,  if 
he  does  not  "  improve  on  nature,"  as  Bossuet  is  about  to 
put  it:  he  did  not  say  "embellish"  nature!  And  they 


to  persuade  society]  he  added  to  the  arguments  of  the  Augustinus. — 
His  own  more  especially  personal  addition  consisted  in  his  desire  to 
convert  the  "  libertines,"— whom  he  had  had  an  opportunity  of 
becoming  acquainted  with  and  even  of  frequenting  .while  he  moved  in 
society ; — and  in  his  conviction  that,  in  connection  with  the  miracle 
of  the  Holy  Thorn,  he  had  been  the  object  of  a  special  Divine  inter- 
vention.— If,  after  this,  we  keep  in  view  the  succession  of  dates,  that 
is  :  1654,  the  Entretien  avec  M.  de  Sad ; — 1655,  his  entry  into  Port- 
Eoyal ;— 1656,  the  miracle  of  the  Holy  Thorn  ;— 1657,  the  last  Pro- 
vinciales; — and  1658  or  1659,  the  sketch  of  the  plan  of  his  Apology 
as  transmitted  us  by  his  nephew,  Etienne  Perier,  we  are  in  a  position 
to  picture  Pascal's  scheme  very  much  as  follows : 

Everything  within  us  and  around  us  bears  loud  witness  to  our 
misery; — and  whether  it  be  in  the  feebleness  of  our  frame, — or  in 
the  vices  of  the  organisation  of  society, — or  in  the  impotence  of  our 
reason  ; — we  are  confronted  by  nothing  but  motives  for  despair. — To 
what,  then,  is  to  be  ascribed  the  protest  that  arises  from  the  depths 
of  this  despair  itself  ? — the  fact  that  on  this  account,  we  form  an 
exception  in  nature  ? — and  the  invincible  confidence  we  have  that  a 
better  destiny  awaits  us  ? — We  shall  obtain  a  solution  of  these  prob- 
lems if  we  accept  the  doctrine  of  original  sin, — the  obligation  we  are 
under  to  expiate  it, — and  the  doctrine  of  the  redemption, — three 
points  of  dogma  which,  it  will  be  remarked,  are  the  essence  of 
Christianity. — It  may  be  that  we  are  averse  to  accepting  these 
doctrines  ? — In  that  case  let  us  reflect,  that  to  believe  in  them  is 
sufficient  in  itself  to  allow  of  us  being  as  good  men  as  human  frailty 


THE   NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     165 

believed,  in  the  last  place,  that  the  surest  means  to 
achieve  this  purpose,  or, — if  I  may  be  allowed  this  rather 
pedantic  expression, — to  evolve  this  "  end "  from  this 
"principle"  was  to  make  form  or  style  the  perpetual 
object  of  their  concern. 

It  is  this  community  of  ideas  that  is  to  be  met  with  at 
every  turn,  in  Boileau's  satires  as  in  Moliere's  comedies, 
in  the  prefaces  of  Racine  as  in  the  confessions  of  La  Fon- 
taine. And  the  aims  of  the  four  writers  were  novel  in  the 
extreme  if  they  be  considered  merely  in  connection  with 
the  ideas  of  their  contemporaries,  but  the  novelty  dis- 
appears if  it  be  a  fact  that  the  goal  they  had  set  themselves 


will  permit ; — that  these  dogmas,  too,  were  foreshadowed  by  the  Old 
Testament, — announced  by  the  prophets, — confirmed  by  miracles  ;— 
and  finally,  that  if  our  reason  will  not  admit  them,  we  can  at  any 
rate  accept  them  by  an  effort  of  the  will. 

That  there  is  not  a  single  fragment  of  the  Pensees,  that  does  not  tend 
to  establish  some  one  of  the  preceding  propositions ; — though  to 
thoroughly  realise  this  fact,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Pascal's 
apology,  as  he  himself  conceived  it,  was  directed  at  once  against  the 
libertines ; — the  philosophers, — the  Jesuits, —  and  the  Jews. —  Im- 
portance of  this  remark. — Of  the  present  day  value  of  the  Pensees  as  a 
work  of  apologetics. —  [Cf.  Sainte-Beuve,  Port-Royal,  vol.  iii.  appendix, 
and  A.  Gory,  Les  Pensees  de  Pascal  considerees  comme  apologie  du 
christianisme,  Paris,  1883], — Of  certain  fresh  facts  which  need  to  be 
taken  into  account  in  modern  apologetics ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of 
the  science  of  the  comparative  study  of  religions. — Of  the  remarkable 
confirmation  of  Pascal's  apologetics  afforded  by  the  Pessimism  of 
Schopenhauer ; — and  by  the  doctrine  of  evolution  [Cf.  Brunetiere,  La 
moralite  de  la  doctrine  evolutive,  Paris,  1896], — That  the  moral 
value  of  Pascal's  apology  subsists  in  its  entirety,  so  far  as  rational 
certitude  is  not  the  only  mode  or  the  only  species  of  certitude ; — 
as  man  is  not  born  good ; — and  as  nothing  human  is  organised  on 
purely  human  principles. 

Of  Pascal's  style, — and  that  there  is  nothing  in  French  superior  to 
certain  of  the  Provinciales ; — unless  it  be  certain  fragments  of  the 
Pensees. — Whether  his  style  lacks  grace,  or  (so  as  to  avoid  seeming  to 
play  upon  words)  tenderness  and  sweetness  ? — But,  in  any  case,  his 


166     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

was  that  towards  which  literature  had  been  tending  for 
something  like  a  hundred  years.  After  a  century  of 
tentative  efforts,  during  which  French  writers  had 
addressed  themselves  in  turn  to  the  ancients,  to  the 
Italians,  to  the  Spaniards,  for  means  to  achieve  a  purpose 
as  to  the  nature  of  which  they  were  a  good  deal  in  the 
dark,  the  goal  was  at  last  in  sight,  and  to  reach  it  all 
that  had  to  be  done  was  to  cease  imitating  the  Spaniards 
or  Italians,  and,  following  the  example  of  the  ancients, 
to  stand  face  to  face  with  nature.  "  The  imitation 
of  nature  is  the  chief  matter,  an  illustrious  painter 
will  declare  at  a  later  period,  and  the  only  object  of  all 


style  ranges  from  the  most  familiar  simplicity  to  the  loftiest 
eloquence.  — "  Pascal's  rhetoric,1'  —  and  that  it  does  not  consist 
in  entirely  dispensing  with  rhetoric ; — but  in  making  rhetorical 
expedients  serve  to  their  own  destruction ; — and  in  only  having 
recourse  to  art  to  attain  to  a  more  faithful  imitation  of  nature. — Of 
the  sentiment  of  the  mysterious  in  Pascal's  prose ; — of  his  way  of 
intervening  in  person  in  the  cause  he  is  pleading ; — of  his  profound 
sensibility; — and  of  the  "poetic"  qualities  that  result  from  the 
mingling  of  all  these  elements. — Of  sundry  other  qualities  of  Pascal's 
style : — its  sharpness  and  conciseness, — its  copiousness, — and  its 
" compactness.'1— Sainte-Beuve's  remark:  "Pascal,  an  admirable 
writer  when  he  completes  the  expression  of  his  thought,  is  a  yet 
greater  writer  in  his  unfinished  utterances." 

3.  THE  WORKS. — We  shall  only  make  a  passing  reference  to 
Pascal's  scientific  works,  of  which  we  may  cite  the  Essais  pour  les 
coniques,  1640 ; — Avis  a  ceux  qui  verront  la  machine  arithmetique, 
1645  ; — Experiences  touchant  le  vide,  1647  ; — Eecit  de  la  grande 
experience  de  I'equilibre  des  liqueurs,  1648 ; — Traite  du  triangle 
arithmetique,  1654 ; — and  his  writings  relating  to  roulette,  1658 
[Cf.  A.  Desboves,  Etude  sur  Pascal  et  les  Geometres  conteniporains, 
Paris,  1878]. 

The  principal  editions  of  the  Provinciales  and  of  the  Pensees  are : 

Of  the  Provinciales ; — the  original  editions,  1656-1657,  the  artificial 

selections  of  which  differ  from  each  other  to  a  considerable  extent ; — 

the  Latin  translation  issued  by  Nicole  under  the  name  of  Wendrock, 

1658 ;-— the  Cologne  edition  published  by  Nicolas  Schouten  in  1659  ;  — 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE     167 

rules  is  to  enable  us  to  imitate  nature  the  more  easily  " 
[Cf.  a  lecture  by  Oudry  in  Watelet's  Dictionnaire  des 
Beaux-Arts,  vol.  i.,  Paris,  1760].  A  final  coincidence, 
of  the  kind  which,  because  they  cannot  be  foreseen, 
lend  history  its  varying  and  ever  novel  attractiveness, 
was  destined  to  prevent  this  principle  being  responsible 
for  the  abusive  consequences  it  might  otherwise  have 
involved :  Mazarin  had  just  died ;  Anne  of  Austria  was 
about  to  follow  him  into  the  tomb;  and  Louis  XIV.,  by 
three  or  four  master  strokes,  had  inaugurated  his  per- 
sonal government. 


Maynard's  edition,  Paris,  1851,  Firuiin-Didot ; — Derome's  edition) 
Paris,  1880-1885,  Gamier  ; — Molinier's  edition,  Paris,  1891,  Lemerre  ; 
— Faugere's  edition,  Paris,  1886-1895,  Hachette. 

Of  the  Pensees  : — the  original  edition,  Paris,  1669-1670,  of  which  at 
least  five  examples  offering  a  certain  dissimilarity  are  known ; — Con- 
dorcet's  edition,  Paris,  1776  ; — Frantin's  edition,  Dijon,  1835,  Lagier  ; 
— Faugere's  edition,  Paris,  1844,  Andrieux  ; — Havet's  edition,  Paris, 
1852,  1887,  Dezobry  and  Delagrave  ; — Astie's  edition,  Lausanne,  1857, 
Bridel ; — Bocher's  edition,  Tours,  1873,  Mame  ; — Molinier's  edition, 
Paris,  1879,  Lemerre  ; — Guthlin's  edition,  Paris,  1896,  Lethielleux ; — 
Michaut's  edition,  Friburgi  Helvetioruin,  1896 ; — and  Brunschwieg's 
edition,  Paris,  1897,  Hachette. 

None  of  these  editions  is  an  exact  reproduction  of  that  which 
preceded  it,  and  there  is  not  one  of  them  that  should  not  be  consulted 
for  special  reasons  :  theological,  critical,  literary,  or  paleological. 

With  the  Pensees  are  usually  given  some  opuscules  of  which  the 
most  important  are:  VEntretien  avec  M.  de  Sad; — Trois  discours 
sur  la  condition  des  grands  ; — De  Vesprit  geometrique  ; — the  Preface 
du  Traite  du  vide  ; — and  the  Lettres  a  Mile  de  Roannez. 


168  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 


II 

At  this  period  the  great  king  was  young,  gallant,  and 
addicted  to  ostentatious  splendour;  there  was  nothing 
formal,  solemn,  or  pompous  about  his  youthful  court, 
which  bore  no  resemblance  whatever  to  the  idea  that  is 
formed  of  it  by  the  study  of  what  it  became  in  later  years. 

FIFTH  PERIOD 

From  the  first  performance  of  the  "Precieuse  Ridicules" 
to  the  "beginning  of  the  quarrel  between  the  ancients 
and  moderns 

1659-1687 

L— Frangois  [vi.],  Due  de  la  Rochefoucald  [Paris,  1613; 

1 1680,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — La  Rochefoucauld  himself  in  his  Me  moires  [Cf. 
Memoires  du  cardinal  de  Retz  and  Lettres  de  Mme  de  Sevigne]  ; — 
Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  de  femmea   [Mine  de  Longueville,  Mme  de 
Sable,    Mme  de  La  Fayette,  M.    de  la  Rochefoucauld],    1840; — V. 
Cousin,  Madame  de  Sable,  1858 ; — Ed.  de  Barthelemy,  Lea  amis  de 
Mme  de  Sable,  Paris,  1865  ; — Gilbert's  Notice  sur  La  Rochefoucauld 
preceding   his   edition   of  the   Works,  Paris,  1858 ; — d'Haussonville, 
Madame  de  La  Fayette,  Paris,  1891 ; — J.  Bourdeau,  La  Rochefoucauld, 
Paris,  1893. 

A.  Viuet,  Les  Moralistes  frangais  au  XVIIs  siecle:  La  Roche- 
foucauld, 1837; — Prevost-Paradol,  Etudes  sur  les  Moralistes  francais, 
1865. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND   THE  WRITER. — His  family  and  his  entry  into 
society ; — where  he  reads   novels   aloud. — The   "  ladies'   favourite  "  : 
— he  is  indebted  for  his  first  successes  to  the  Duchesse  de  Chevreuse  ; 
— he  endangers  his  fortunes  by  his  adventure  with  the  Duchesse  de 
Longueville  ; — he  finds  consolation  for  the  shattering  of  his  ambitions 
in  his  close  friendship  with  the  Marquise  de  Sable ; — and  he  spends 
the  last  years  of  his  life,  which  was  that  of  an  Epicurean,  at  the  side 
of  the   Comtesse   de   La    Fayette. — To    this    amatory    and   society 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     169 

In  proof  of  this,  it  is  only  necessary  to  consult  the  eye- 
witnesses of  the  beginning  of  the  reign :  Mme  de  Motteville 
in  her  Memoires,  Mme  de  La  Fayette  in  her  Histoire  de 
Madame  Henriette,  Montglat,  Loret  in  his  Gazette,  Bussy 
in  his  Histoire  des  Gaules,  and  finally  Moliere,  Moliere 
himself,  the  adroit  Moliere,  in  his  account  of  the  Pleasures 
of  the  Enchanted  Island  (Plaisirs  de  Vile  enchantee). 
After  the  rather  melancholy  and  even  surly  restraint 
of  the  preceding  reign,  on  the  morrow  of  the  futile 


experience  add  that  of  politics; — or  at  least  of  intrigue; — and  the 
qualities  or  the  defects  of  a  nobleman  who  is  at  the  same  tune  a  man 
of  letters,  which  are :  —the  superiority  that  accompanies  good  breeding 
and  taste ; — the  constant  fear  of  being  duped  ; — independence  of  spirit ; 
— and  impertinence  [Cf.  Fenelon  and  Chateaubriand]. 

How  the  book  of  Maxims  was  written, — and  that  it  is  a  quintessence 
of  the  "  precious  "  spirit. — Mme  de  Sable's  dinners,  her  "  soups"  and 
her  "  preserves  "  [Cf.  Cousin,  Mme  de  Sable,  pp.  105,  etc]. — The  way 
in  which  the  Maximes  were  raved  over  in  Mme  de  Sable's  salon. — This 
vogue  was  due,  so  far  as  the  subject  matter  of  the  Maxims  is 
concerned,  to  the  same  intellectual  tendencies  that  prompted  the 
psychological  analysis  in  Mile  de  Scuderi's  novels ;— and  so  far  as 
their  style  is  concerned,  to  the  prevailing  taste  at  the  Hotel  de 
Rambouillet. — La  Rochefoucauld's  early  writings :  his  Portrait  par 
lui-meme,  1659 ; — his  Memoires,  1662 ;— and,  in  this  connection,  of 
the  state  of  mind  of  a  man  who  publishes  his  memoirs  during  his  life- 
time.— The  preparatory  stages  through  which  the  Maximes  passed.— 
They  are  communicated  to  the  author's  friends  [Cf.  Gilbert,  hi  his 
edition,  vol.  i.,  pp.  372-398]  ; — they  are  even  made  public  without  being 
actually  published  [Cf.  Willems,  Etude  sur  la  lre  edition  des  Maximes, 
1864]. — Whether  this  manner  of  sounding  opinion  was  as  common 
as  some  have  alleged  ? 

Of  the  value  of  the  Maximes,  and  that  it  has  been  strongly  overrated. 
— Does  La  Rochefoucauld  possess  a  system  or  merely  a  "  doctrine  "  ? — 
That  if  he  possess  one,  it  merely  consists  in  blaming  men  in  general 
for  the  defects  of  his  own  character. — The  Maximes  do  no  more  than 
sum  up  his  own  experience  of  life  ; — and  his  experience  is  limited  in 
three  directions  ; — by  his  immense  ignorance ; — by  the  comparative 
narrowness  of  the  circle  in  which  he  moved ; — and  by  his  indifference 
to  momentous  questions. — Some  of  his  maxims  are  commonplace 


170    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

though  disastrous  troubles  of  the  Fronde,  the  court,  the 
sovereign,  and  his  youthful  following  of  brilliant  men 
and  women  were  bent  on  amusement,  eager  for  pleasure 
and  possessed  by  an  almost  frenzied  desire  to  taste  life 
to  the  full.  In  what  Mme  de  Motteville  described  as 
the  "  enchanted "  gardens  of  Versailles  and  Fontaine- 
bleau,  a  thousand  intrigues  began  and  ended,  compli- 
cated and  crossed  each  other,  to  the  indignation  of 
the  cross-grained  champions  of  virtue,  of  those  whom 


[Cf.  Gilbert's  edition,  Max.  2,  31,  79,  132,  134, 174,  etc.].— Repetitions 
in  the  Maximes  [Cf.  on  the  subject  of  love,  74,  76,  77,  136,  or  on  the 
subject  of  fortune,  53,  57,  58,  60,  165,  470]. — Absence  of  composition 
and  order  in  the  Maximes. — The  style  of  the  Maximes  and  its  con- 
formity of  idea  with  the  "  precious  "  style  [Cf.  4,  115,  175,  252,  355, 
etc.]. — Whether  this  preciosity  does  not  degenerate  hi  places  into 
nonsense  [Cf.  69,  78,  97]. — But  there  remain  a  few  maxims  that 
deserve  their  reputation : — for  real  ingeniousness  [Cf.  165,  182,  218]  ; 
— for  vivacity  [Cf.  19,  367,  370]  ; — and  above  all  for  clearness. — That 
this  last  quality,  which,  up  to  then,  had  been  extremely  rare,  doubt- 
less assured  the  success  of  the  book. 

Did  La  Rochefoucauld  collaborate  with  Mme  de  La  Fayette  ? — The 
statement  in  Segraisiana:  "  Mme  de  La  Fayette  used  to  say  of  M.  de 
La  Rochefoucauld  :  '  I  have  to  thank  him  for  my  wit,  but  it  is  I  who 
regenerated  his  heart.' " — The  earlier  novels  of  Mme  de  La  Fayette  : 
La  Princesse  de  Montpensier,  1660  ; — Zayde,  1670 ; — La  Princesse  de 
Cleves,  1672 ; — Mme  de  Scuderi's  evidence  on  this  point  [Cf .  Cor- 
respondance  de  B ussy- Bab utin,  Lalanne's  edition,  iii.  340], — and 
confusion  must  be  avoided  between  Mme  de  Scuderi,  the  wife  of 
Georges,  and  Madeleine,  her  sister-in-law. — That  after  a  thorough 
examination  it  is  difficult  to  find  any  trace  of  the  hand  of  La 
Rochefoucauld  in  the  Princesse  de  Cleves; — that  it  is  merely  true 
that  both  the  Princesse  de  Cleves  and  the  Maximes  are  natural 
off-shoots  of  the  "precious5'  spirit,  though  of  a  slightly  different 
order ; — and  that  there  is  no  trace  either  in  the  one  or  in  the  other 
of  "  Cartesianisrn'' ;— while  it  is  easy  to  point  to  traces  of  "  Jansenism  " 
in  them  [Cf.  the  preface  to  the  first  edition]. 

Of  La  Rochefoucauld's  place  in  the  literature  of  his  time ; — and  of 
the  impropriety  there  would  be  in  making  him  out  "  a  great  writer." — 
A  "great  writer"  is  always  abundant  and  fertile,  and  above  all  offers 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     171 

Moliere  attacked  in  Tar  tuff et  perhaps  with  the  consent 
of  the  king  and  in  any  case  greatly  to  his  satisfaction. 
It  seemed — says  an  historian,  whose  idea  I  should  be  loth 
to  borrow  without  giving  it  in  his  own  words — "it  seemed 
as  if  pleasure  were  eager  to  encircle  with  its  garlands  and 
to  deck  with  its  flowers  the  throne  whose  possession  it  was 
jealously  disputing  with  fame  "  [Cf.  Walckenaer,  Memoires 
sur  Madame  de  Sevigne,  vol.  ii.,  Paris,  1844] .  The  time 
passed  in  a  perpetual  succession  of  banquets,  repasts, 


greater  variety  than  La  Eochefoucauld  did. — That  on  this  account, 
and  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  he  may  be  called  "  a  writer  of  rare 
talent " : — rare  by  reason  of  his  sterility ;— rare  by  reason  of  his 
originality ; — and  finally,  when  he  is  at  his  best,  rare  by  reason  of  his 
exquisite  qualities. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Portrait  de  M.  la  Rochefoucauld  in  the  Portraits 
de  Mile  de  Montpensier,  1659  ; — Memoires  de  M.  D.  L.  R.,  Cologne, 
1662,  Vandyck ; — Reflexions  on  sentences,  et  Maximes  Morales,  The 
Hague,  1664,  J.  and  D.  Stencker,  reprinted  by  M.  Alphonse  Pauly, 
Paris,  1883,  D.  Morgand. — Still  the  genuine  "original"  edition  is 
that  of  1665,  Paris,  Barbin. 

La  Eochefoucauld  has  also  left  some  minor  works  or  fragments 
which,  according  to  their  nature,  are  included  in  the  editions  either  of 
the  Memoires  or  of  the  Maximes  ; — and  about  a  hundred  Letters. 

The  last  edition  of  the  Maximes  that  appeared  under  his  own 
supervision  was  that  of  1678,  containing  541  maxims  instead  of  314  ; 
— the  best  edition  of  his  works  is  that  of  MM.  Gilbert  and  Gourdault, 
Paris,  1868-1883,  Hachette. 

II.— Jean-Baptiste  Poquelin  de  Moliere  [Paris,  1621 ;  f  1673, 

Paris] . 

1.  THK  SOURCES'. — Bayle's  Dictionnaire,  article  POQUELIN,  1695; 
— Grimarest,  La  Vie  de  M.  de  Moliere,  1705 ; — Baillet,  Juge- 
ments  dcs  savants,  No.  1520,  vol.  v.  in  the  edition  of  1722 : — the 
brothers  Parfaict,  Histoire  du  theatre  frangais,  vol.  x.  1747 ; — 
J.  Taschereau,  Histoire  de  la  vie  et  des  ouvrages  de  Moliere, 
1825, — and  the  5th  edition,  1863  ; — Bazin,  Notes  historiques  sur 
la  vie  de  Moliere,  1847,  1848,  1849,  1851  ;— Soulie,  Recherche* 

1  Consult  M.  Paul  Lacroix,  Bibliographic  Moliiresque.  Paris,  1875,  Auguste 
Fontaine. 


172     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

promenades,  carousals,  water  parties,  "river  baths," 
masquerades,  concerts,  comedies  and  ballets,  whence 
arose  and  assumed  definite  shape,  not  without  some 
prejudice  to  morality,  a  new  politeness,  less  studied 
and  freer  than  that  of  old,  equally  removed 

From  the  rigorous  virtue  of  the  remote  ages 

and  from  the  ceremoniousness  of  preciosity,  both  of 
which  it  rendered  ridiculous  in  a  different  way  but  to 


sur  Moliere  et  sur  so,  famille,  Paris,  1863 ; — Jal,  Dictionnaire 
critique  de  biographie  et  d'histoire,  articles  BK.TART  and  MOLIERE, 
1864  and  2nd  edition,  Paris,  1872  ;• — J.  Loiseleur,  Les  Points  obscurs 
de  la  vie  de  Moliere,  Paris,  1877 ; — L.  Moland,  Moliere,  sa  vie  et  ses 
ouvrages,  2nd  edition,  Paris,  1885  ; — Henri  Chardon,  Monsieur  de 
Modene  .  .  .  et  Madeleine  Bejart,  Paris,  1886 ; — G.  Larroumet, 
La  comcdie  de  Moliere,  Vauteur  et  le  milieu,  Paris,  1887  ; — Paul 
Mesnard's  Notice  forming  volume  x.  of  the  Moliere  in  the  collection  of 
the  Grands  Ecrivains  de  France,  1889; — G.  Monval,  Le  Molieriste, 
ten  volumes,  1879-1889.  [The  brochures  dealing  with  Moliere' s  stays 
in  the  various  provincial  towns  he  visited  are  too  numerous  for  a  list 
of  them  to  be  given  here,  but  almost  all  of  them  are  referred  to  in  the 
last  five  works], 

Vauvenargues,  Reflexions  critiques  sur  quelques  poetes,  1746 ; — 
Diderot,  Entretiens  sur  le  Fils  naturel,  and  Essai  sur  la  poesie 
dramatique,  1758 ;— Rousseau,  Lettre  sur  les  spectacles,  1758 ; — 
Chamfort,  Eloge  de  Moliere,  1769 ; — N.  Lemercier,  Cours  analytique 
de  litterature,  1810-1816,  vol.  iv. ; — Schlegel,  Cours  de  littera- 
ture dramatique,  1809-1814 ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  litteraires, 
1835 ;  Port-Royal  [bk.  iii.,  ch.  15  and  16]  ;  and  Nouveaux  Lundis, 
1864 ;— P.  Stapfer,  La  Petite  Comedie  de  la  critique  litteraire,  Paris, 
1866  ;— Louis  Veuillot,  Moliere  et  Bourdaloue,  Paris,  1863  and  1875  ; 
F.  Brunetiere,  La  Philosophic  de  Moliere  [Etudes  critiques,  vol.  iv.] 
and  Les  Epoques  du  theatre  frangais, — Jules  Lemaitre,  Impressions 
de  theatre,  1886-1896. 

F.  Genin,  Lexique  compare  de  Moliere,  Paris,  1845 ; — Paringault, 
De  la  langue  du  droit  dans  le  theatre  de  Moliere,  Paris,  1861 ; — 
Alexandre  Dumas  fils,  preface  to  Un  pere  prodigue,  1868 ; — Edmond 
Scherer,  Une  heresie  litteraire,  1886 ; — Ch.  Livet,  Lexique  compare 
de  la  langue  de  Moliere,  Paris,  1895-1897. 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OP   FRENCH   LITERATURE     173 

an  equal  extent.  This  new  politeness  speedily  exerted 
its  influence,  at  first  on  manners,  which  became  at  once 
more  elegant  and  more  natural ;  on  the  language,  of  which 
it  completed  the  refinement ;  on  the  sentiments,  which 
became  more  subtle  and  more  complicated.  The  success 
of  the  Misanthrope  in  1666,  of  Andromaque  in  1667,  of 
Amphitryon  in  1668  was  the  outward  evidence  of  its 
triumph.  It  spread  throughout  the  capital,  and  before 
long  even  to  the  provinces ;  and  still  further  afield,  abroad, 

V.  Fournel,  Les  Contemporains  de  Moliere,  Paris,  1863-1875. 

Samuel  Chappuzeau,  Le  Theatre  francais,  with  a  preface  and  notes 
by  G.  Monval,  Paris,  1876 ; — Eugene  Despois,  Le  Theatre  francais 
sous  Louis  XIV.,  4th  edition,  Paris,  1894. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  POET. 

A.  His  youth  and  his  years  of  apprenticeship  and  travel  [Cf. 
Goethe,  Willielm  Meister]. — Moliere's  family; — his  father,  Jean 
Poquelin,  and  his  mother,  Marie  Cresse ; — second  marriage  of 
Moliere's  father,  1633 ; — Moliere's  studies  at  Clermont  College  ; — it 
is  untrue  that  the  Prince  de  Conti  was  among  his  comrades  there  ; — 
on  the  other  hand,  he  frequented  the  household  of  Luillier,  of  whom 
Chapelle  was  the  natural  son  [Cf.  Luillier's  Historiette  in  Tallemant 
des  Reaux,  vol.  iv.,  and  the  notes  of  Paul  in  Paris]  ; — and  that  there  he 
perhaps  became  acquainted  with  Gassendi ; — who  most  certainly  was 
not  a  Cartesian. — Did  Moliere,  in  a  well-known  passage  of  the 
Misanthrope, 

La  malpropre,  sur  soi  de  peu  d'attraits  charg6e,  &c., 

translate  a  not  less  well-known  passage  of  Lucretius '? — and  that  in 
any  case  others  had  imitated  the  passage  before  him ; — among  them 
Desmarets  in  his  Visionnaires  and  Scarron  in  his  Japliet  d'Armenie. 
— The  company  frequented  by  Moliere  in  his  early  years  was  not  the 
best  that  was  open  to  a  young  man  of  the  middle  class  in  1640 ; — 
while  the  company  he  kept  became  still  worse  when  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Bejarts  [Cf.  Jal  in  his  Dictionnaire,  and  Henri 
Chardon,  Monsieur  de  Modene,  etc.] — He  gives  up  his  post  of  valet 
attached  to  the  royal  household  and  becomes  an  actor,  1643 ; — 
Founding  of  the  Illustrious  Theatre,  1643 ; — the  enterprise  is  un- 
successful ; — a  second  theatre  started  in  the  Croix  Noire  tennis-court 
has  a  still  shorter  existence ; — Moliere  is  imprisoned  for  debt,  1645. — 


174    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF   FBENCH   LITEEATUEE 

in  the  petty  German  courts  and  on  the  restored  throne 
of  the  Stuarts,  it  became  for  the  whole  of  Europe  the 
example  and  lesson  it  was  for  France. 

The  truth  is  the  change  marked  an  epoch  not  only 
in  the  history  of  manners,  but  also  in  the  fortunes  of 
France.  Amid  all  these  innovations,  amid  the  very 
pleasures  in  vogue,  the  action  of  the  sovereign  was 
making  itself  felt  by  the  energy  of  his  will,  the  fixity 
of  his  purpose,  the  ubiquity  of  his  regard,  and  the  might 


Changes  in  the  troupe  and  departure  of  Moliere  for  the  provinces, 
end  of  1646  or  beginning  of  1647. 

His  tour  through  the  provinces  [Cf.  Chardon,  La  troupe  du  Roman 
comique  devoilee,  Paris,  1876]. — He  plays  successively: — 1647,  at 
Carcarsonne,  Toulouse,  and  Albi; — 1648,  at  Nantes,  and  Fontenay- 
le-Cornte ; — at  Angouleme? — at  Limoges?  [It  will  be  remarked 
that  Limoges  is  the  only  French  town  of  which  Moliere  specifically 
mentions  a  street  in  his  plays]  ; — 1649,  at  Toulouse  and  Narbonne  ; — 
1650,  at  Agen  ; — and  why  this  stay  at  Agen  authorises  the  belief  that 
prior  to  it  Moliere  gave  two  or  three  representations  at  Bordeaux 
[Cf.  Etudes  critiques,  v.  i.]  ; — 1651,  at  Pezenas  and  Carcarsonne ; — 
1652,  at  Lyons  ; — 1653,  at  Lyons,  La  Grange  des  Pres  [Cf.  Memoires 
de  Daniel  de  Cosnac]  ; — 1654,  at  Montpellier,  Lyons  and  Vienne  ?  ; 
— 1655,  at  Montpellier,  Lyons,  and  Pezenas ; — 1656,  at  Pezenas, 
Narbonne,  and  Beziers ; — 1657,  at  Beziers,  Nimes,  Lyons,  Dijon, 
and  Avignon ; — 1658,  at  Grenoble  and  Rouen. — On  October  24  of 
the  same  year,  Moliere  plays  for  the  first  time  in  the  presence  of 
the  king,  "in  the  guard-room  of  the  old  Louvre,"  the  pieces  repre- 
sented being  Nicomede  and  the  Docteur  amoureux. 

The  advantages  Moliere  derived  from  his  years  of  travel. — In  the 
first  place,  he  learnt  his  profession  in  the  course  of  his  tours ; — and, 
in  this  connection,  that  it  is  strange  that  it  should  have  occurred 
to  no  student  of  Moliere  to  draw  up  a  list  of  the  pieces  in  which 
he  acted.— There  would  be  several  ways  of  setting  about  this  task, 
for  instance  : — an  effort  might  be  made  to  ascertain  what  plays 
were  successful  in  Paris  between  1646  and  1658 ; — and  to  ascer- 
tain who  were  the  authors  with  whom  the  Bejarts  were  personally 
acquainted  [and  at  least  three  of  them  are  known  :  Rotrou,  Magnon, 
and  Tristan  1'Hermitte]  ; — and,  finally,  his  library  might  be  searched 
[Cf.  E.  Soulie,  Reclierches]  for  plays,  which  he  seems  to  have 


THE    NATIONALIZATION   OP   FRENCH   LITERATURE     175 

of  his  arm.  He  had  done  more  than  merely  accept 
as  the  natural  heir  the  authority  which  had  been,  as 
it  were,  stored  up  for  him  by  Mazarin  and  Richelieu ; 
he  had  taken  it  over  with  the  intention  of  keeping  it 
intact  in  his  own  hands.  In  the  place  of  ministers 
there  were  to  be  more  managing  clerks !  Counsellors 
were  to  give  way  to  courtiers  !  He  was  to  have  no 
more  equals,  not  even  abroad,  but  instead,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Thames  or  amid  the  sands  of  Branden- 


imitated  in  his  own  pieces,  but  in  which  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  acted  in  Paris  [Cf.  Desmaret's  Visionnaires ;  Gilet  de  la 
Teyssonnerie's  Le  Deniaise;  Cyrano's  Le  Pedant  joue], — Other 
advantages  derived  by  Moliere  from  his  tours. — During  the  wars  of 
the  Fronde  he  saw  the  provinces  in  naturalibus ; — and,  in  this 
connection,  of  the  services  rendered  literature  by  revolutions. — As  a 
"Bohemian"  and  an  actor,  he  was  well  placed  to  observe  the  comic 
side  of  life  from  an  independent  standpoint ; — and  to  gauge  social 
inequalities ;— the  foolishness  of  the  great ; — the  power  of  resistance 
or  of  inertia  of  prejudices. — Finally,  as  actor,  author,  and  the 
manager  of  a  company  he  learnt  what  responsibility  meant ; — a 
matter  of  which  his  friend  La  Fontaine,  for  example,  will  never  have 
any  conception ; — while,  if  a  certain  bitterness  resulted  from  these 
manifold  experiences,  it  is  to  this  bitterness  that  he  owes  the 
superiority  of  his  genius. 

B.  Moliere's  plays. 

That  there  are  at  least  two  reasons  why  the  language  in  which 
they  are  written  should  be  studied  first  of  all ; — the  first  is  that 
Moliere's  language  is  almost  the  only  point  on  which  Moliere  is 
still  taken  to  task  at  the  present  day; — and  the  second,  that  it  is 
primarily  as  a  writer  that  he  contrasts  with  those  who  preceded  him, 
Pascal  excepted. — Alexandre  Dumas  is  mistaken  in  thinking  that 
Moliere  would  be  reproached  with  making  an  involved  use  of  sentences 
beginning  with  the  relative  pronouns  "qui"  and  "  que."  [Cf.  preface 
to  TJnpereprodigue], — On  the  contrary,  he  is  blamed : — for  not  having 
an  organic  style  [Scherer] ; — for  mixing  his  metaphors  [Scherer, 
Fenelon,  La  Bruyere]  ; — for  being  "  abominably  "  addicted  to  the  use 
of  "  chevilles,"  that  is,  of  expressions  introduced  solely  with  a  view 
to  filling  up  a  line  or  to  obtaining  a  rhyme  [Scherer]  ; — for  being 
incorrect  in  his  grammar  [Vauvenargues,  Bayle,  La  Bruyere]. — It 


176     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

burg,  mere  "pensioners"  and  "clients."  A  bare  five 
or  six  years  sufficed  to  achieve  these  results.  Under 
the  influence  of  this  sovereign  action,  the  establishment 
of  order  was  witnessed,  peace  was  seen  to  reign  in  the 
provinces,  justice  to  penetrate  there,  honesty  to  resume 
its  sway  in  business  transactions,  commerce,  industry  and 
the  arts  attracted  and  transplanted  into  France  from 
Flanders  or  Italy,  to  make  a  fresh  and  vigorous  start. 
France  speedily  became  the  richest  and  most  populous  of 


may  be  rejoined :  that  many  of  his  grammatical  blunders  are  not 
blunders  at  all,  as  is  the  case  with  those  with  which  Voltaire  finds 
fault  in  Corneille  [Cf.  his  Commentaire]  or  Condorcet  in  Pascal  [Cf. 
Eloge  de  Pascal]  ; — that  it  is  true  that  "chevilles"  abound  in  his 
verses,  because  he  writes  too  rapidly ; — on  the  other  hand,  strict 
adherence  to  metaphors  is  a  characteristic  of  that  "preciosity"  of 
which  he  openly  declared  himself  the  enemy  [Cf.  the  metaphors  of 
Saint- Simon  or  Montaigne]  ; — while,  to  conclude,  the  "  organic  style  " 
is  not  proper  to  comedy. — Again,  it  was  impossible  that  Arnolphe 
should  employ  the  same  language  as  Agnes,  Agnes  as  Armande, 
Armande  as  Angelique ; — the  fact  is,  Moliere's  style  adapts  itself  to 
the  character  of  his  personages ; — it  is  a  dramatic  and  a  comic  style  ; 
— or,  in  other  words,  it  is  primarily  expressive  of  the  truth  of 
the  characters. — Had  Moliere  written  like  Terence,  he  would  only 
have  been  half  himself. — Further,  for  reasons  of  temperament; — 
of  extraction ; — and  of  personal  experience  of  life,  Moliere's  style  is  : — 
middle-class,  which  distinguishes  it  from  Racine's  style ; — "  affluent," 
to  use  Saint-Beuve's  expression,  which  distinguishes  it  from  Regnard's 
style  [Cf.  J.  J.  Weiss,  Eloge  de  Eegnard]  ; — it  is  "  life-like,"  which 
distinguishes  it  from  Boileau's  style,  which,  though  it  issues  from  the 
same  source,  remains  "  bookish  "  ; — finally,  and  since  it  is  throughout 
prosaic,  a  feature  that  distinguishes  it  from  La  Fontaine's  style, 
Moliere's  style  is  eminently  realistic  or  "  naturalistic." 

The  naturalism  of  Moliere  ;  and  how  it  shows  itself  in  the  first 
place  in  his  attitude ; — if  his  two  first  plays  be  excepted ; — and  it  be 
studied  in  Les  Precieuses  ridicules,  1659 ;  Sganarelle,  1660 ;  L'Ecole 
des  maris,  1661;  L'Ecole  des  femmes,  1662;  Critique  de  I'ecole  des 
femmes,  1663 ;  Impromptu  de  Versailles,  1663  ;  and  the  Tartuffe  of 
1664. — "  Precieux  "  and  pedants; — nobles  and  commoners; — actors 
and  authors; — courtiers  and  ecclesiastics; — prudes  and  grotesque 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     177 

all  the  European  states,  and  when,  after  a  campaign  of 
a  few  months,  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  consummated 
what  had  been  accomplished  in  the  Pyrenees  and  in 
Westphalia,  there  was  at  once  no  more  brilliant  Court 
than  that  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  no  sovereign  better  obeyed 
by  his  subjects,  or  more  admired,  more  feared  and  more 
envied  by  his  rivals  than  this  monarch  of  twenty-nine  ! 
It  is  not  surprising,  under  these  conditions,  that  the 
"  men  of  letters  "  should  have  admired  him  with  the  rest 


characters, — all  those  whom  he  attacks  in  these  works  are  those 
who  disfigure  and  tamper  with  nature ; — are  those  who  interpose 
pedantic  rules  or  respect  for  prejudices  between  art  and  the  repre- 
sentation of  life  ; — and  are  more  especially  those  who  claim  to  put 
nature  under  restraint  or  to  discipline  it. — Nature  cannot  be  trans- 
formed ; — and  the  vanity  of  the  efforts  that  are  made  to  transform 
it  is  the  source  whence  Moliere  draws  his  comic  effects. — This  con- 
sideration, too,  accounts  for  his  showing  himself  independent  of 
rules ;— and  of  foreign  writers ; — an  end  to  plays  of  the  stamp  of 
Bertrand  de  Cigarral  or  dom  Japhet  d'Armenie ! — It  is  for  the 
same  reason  that  Moliere  attacks  Corneille  and  the  "  great  come- 
dians," those  of  the  Hotel  de  Bourgogne ; — since  they  do  not  work 
from  the  living  model ; — but  set  themselves  an  ideal  of  which  we 
cannot  verify  the  excellence  by  comparing  it  with  nature. 

That  this  naturalism  is  also  met  with  in  Moliere' s  philosophy ; — 
for  there  is  a  connection  between  these  principles  and  those  of  the 
"  libertines  "  ; — and  those  of  Montaigne  and  Rabelais  [Cf.  above,  pp. 
59  and  88]. — In  his  earlier  plays  and  down  to  Tartuffe,  Moliere  does 
not  appear  to  doubt  for  an  instant  of  the  goodness  of  nature ; — and, 
in  any  case,  he  prefers  leaving  nature  to  itself  to  endeavouring  to 
make  it  "  unnatural." — The  signification  of  Tartuffe, — [Cf.  Stendhal, 
Racine  et  Shakespeare  ;  Louis  Veuillot,  Moliere  et  Bourdaloue ;  abbe 
Davin,  Les  sources  de  Tartuffe,  in  the  newspaper  Le  Monde,  August  2, 
13,  15,  22,  27  and  September  3,  15,  19,  1873;  Louis  Lacour,  Le 
Tartuffe  par  ordre  de  Louis  XIV.,  1877] ;— and  that  to  understand 
the  indignation  the  play  aroused,  attention  must  be  directed  more 
particularly  to  the  character  of  Orgon. — Both  Jansenists  and  Jesuits 
are  taken  to  task  in  the  play ; — while  it  is  beyond  question  that 
religion  is  attacked  in  it,  so  far  as  religion  be  conceived  as  a  "  restrain- 
ing principle." — Of  the  reasons  Moliere  had  to  believe  that  he  was 

13 


178    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

of  their  contemporaries,  and  that  like  them,  they  should 
have  resolved  of  a  common  accord  to  lend  him  obedience, 
or,  if  a  nobler,— and  perhaps  a  more  just,— expression  be 
preferred,  that  they  should  all  have  gravitated  towards 
this  rising  sun,  as  to  a  natural  and  inevitable  centre  of 
attraction.  Their  interests,  even  the  interests  of  their 
art,  and  their  concern  for  their  dignity  invited  them 
to  adopt  this  course.  Admitting,  for  example,  that 

approved  by  Louis  XIV. ; — and  of  the  vexations  which  Tartuffe 
procured  him. 

That  these  vexations  coincide  with  the  critical  period  of  Moliere's 
life ; — with  his  connubial  misfortunes  ; — and  with  the  early  stages 
of  his  illness. — Was  his  faith  in  his  philosophy  of  "  nature  "  shaken  in 
consequence  ? — The  doubtful  and  almost  enigmatical  character  of  the 
plays  he  produced  between  1664  and  1669 :  Don  Juan,  1665  ;  Le 
Misanthrope,  1666;  Tartuffe  (the  second),  1667;  L'Avare,  1668; 
Georges  Dandin,  1668. — The  signification  of  these  plays  is  not  clear  ; 
— he  seems  to  admit  in  them  that  nature  sometimes  stands  in  need  of 
being  modified ; — he  is  doubtless  undergoing  the  influence  of  the 
"  politeness  "  in  vogue  around  him  ; — and  the  obligations  he  is  under 
as  a  courtier  hinder  him  from  following  the  bent  of  his  temperament. 
— At  last,  however,  the  authorisation  to  play  Tartuffe  in  public  frees 
him  from  this  restraint,  1669  ; — and  the  absurdities  of  medical  science 
strengthen  him  in  his  ideas  [Cf.  Maurice  Raynaud,  Les  Medecins  au 
temps  de  Moliere} ; — and  his  plays  become  as  clear  as  ever  they 
were. 

Monsieur  de  Pourceaugnac,  1669 ;  Le  Bourgeois  gentilhomme, 
1670  ;  Les  fourberies  de  Scapin,  1671 ;  Les  femnies  savantes,  1672  ; 
La  Comtesse  d'Escarbagnas,  1672 ;  Le  malade  imaginaire,  1673. — 
How  Monsieur  de  Pourceaugnac  takes  us  back  to  the  period  of  the 
Etourdi  and  of  the  Depit  amoureux,  especially  if  the  Fourberies  de 
Scapin  be  considered  together  with  it. — Similarly  the  Fcmmes  savantes 
takes  us  back  to  the  Precieuses  ridicules ; — perhaps  without  there 
being  any  very  excellent  reasons  at  the  time  for  the  reversion ; — and 
the  Malade  imaginaire  takes  us  back  to  the  Medecin  malgre  lui. — 
Of  the  character  of  Moliere's  jests  at  the  expense  of  doctors,— and 
that  the  essence  of  his  quarrel  with  them  is  that  he  blames  them  for 
wishing  to  be  more  skilful  than  nature. — Nature  cannot  be  "patched 
up  "  when  once  it  is  "  broken  up," — but  rather  to  attempt  to  patch  it 
up  is  to  break  it  up  altogether  [Cf.  Malade,  iii.,  sc.  3].  "  Nature 


THE    NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     179 

they  stood  in  need  of  a  Maecenas,  who  should  secure 
them  the  boon  of  leisure, — and  how  could  it  be  otherwise 
at  a  period  at  which  the  idea  had  not  occurred  to  men 
that  a  writer  might  live  by  his  pen  ? — the  protection  of 
the  king  relieved  them  of  the  necessity  of  being  the  ser- 
vants of  some  nobleman  or  rich  citizen,  exempted  them  for 
the  future  from  writing  "dedications  a  la  Montauron,"  and 
gave  them  a  definite,  though  doubtless  still  a  modest  rank 

has  veiled  our  eyes  too  closely  to  allow  of  our  fathoming  the  mys- 
teries of  our  frame.  .  .  .  When  a  doctor  talks  to  you  of  ...  again 
putting  the  natural  functions  in  full  working  order  ...  he  is  telling 
you  a  medical  fairy  tale.  .  .  .  When  we  are  ill,  nature  of  itself 
contrives  to  find  a  way  out  of  the  trouble  with  which  it  is  beset." 
Finally,  in  Moliere's  art, — his  naturalism  shows  itself  by  his  choice 
of  his  subjects,  which  are  less  and  less  complicated. — There  is  but 
very  little  "  matter,"  to  use  the  expression  Racine  will  shortly 
employ,  and  scarcely  any  plot  in  the  Misanthrope,  1666 ;  in  L' Avare, 
1668;  in  Le  Bourgeois  gentilhomme,  1670;  in  La  Comtesse  d'Escar- 
bagnas,  1672  ;  in  Le  Malade  imaginaire,  1673  ; — or  where  there  is  a 
semblance  of  a  plot,  as  in  the  Femmes  savantes,  it  is  of  no  interest ; 
— and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  endings  of  Moliere's  plays. — In  the 
second  place,  whereas  up  to  Tartuffe  Moliere  introduced  none  but 
individual  characters  into  his  plays,  in  his  later  pieces  he  is  constantly 
depicting  "  the  family  "  ; — as  in  L' Avare ;  Georges  Dandin  ;  Le  Bour- 
geois gentilhomme  ;  Les  femmes  savantes  ;  Le  malade  imaginaire  ; — 
and  the  reason  is,  that  it  is  only  in  our  relations  with  others  that  our 
ludicrous  traits  and  our  vices  come  into  full  view  and  bear  all  their 
consequences. — In  the  third  and  last  place  Moliere  widens  more  and 
more  his  field  of  observation,  so  as  to  make  it  include  the  whole  of 
his  experience  of  life  : — for  instance  his  knowledge  of  the  provinces  in 
Pourceaugnac  and  La  Comtesse  d'Escarbagnas ; — of  the  middle 
classes  in  Le  Bourgeois  gentilhomme ; — of  the  semi-middle  class  in 
Georges  Dandin. — It  is  as  if  one  were  to  say  that  in  each  successive 
work  he  summoned  a  greater  number  of  spectators  ; — and  a  greater 
variety,  to  judge  of  the  truth  of  his  delineations ; — and  to  recognise 
themselves,  their  children  and  their  neighbours  in  the  pictures  of 
life  he  offers  them. — This  is  the  explanation  of  the  bitterness  that 
underlies  a  portion  of  his  work  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of 
the  connection  between  Naturalism  in  literature  and  Pessimism. — 
Whether  this  connection,  perceived  by  Moliere,  did  not  oblige  him, 


180    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOBY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

in  the  social  hierarchy.  In  view  of  these  benefits,  of 
what  importance  is  it  that  some  indulgence  in  flattery 
was  the  price  of  this  protection  ?  And  who  will  argue 
that  Moliere,  Boileau,  Racine,  and  their  fellow  writers 
would  have  been  the  greater  had  they  been  wanting  in 
gratitude  ?  In  reality  they  were  well  aware  that  in  a 
purely  aristocratic  society  neither  their  talent  nor  their 
genius  would  have  sufficed  to  allow  of  their  accomplish- 

from  fear  of  finding  himself  writing  drama,  to  give  more  and  more 
room  to  buffoonery  in  his  later  works :  Monsieur  de  Pourceaugnac, 
Le  Bourgeois  gentilhomme,  Le  Malade  imaginaire  : — and  whether  a 
measure  of  sadness  is  not  inherent  to  all  observation  of  life  that  is  in 
any  way  deep  ? 

How  Moliere  escaped  the  consequences  of  his  naturalism  ; — and  to 
begin  with  he  did  not  always  escape  them ; — as  for  example  in 
Georges  Dandin  or  in  Le  Malade  imaginaire. — Still,  being  absolutely 
in  need  of  the  protection  of  Louis  XIV.,  he  endeavoured  to  fall  in 
with  the  latter's  tastes  ; — and,  in  this  connection  of  Moliere  as  a 
courtier  [Cf.  Tartuffe  and  Amphitryon], — How  his  principle  of  sub- 
ordinating his  situations  to  his  characters  was  yet  more  efficacious 
in  saving  him  from  his  naturalism ; — because  there  are  few 
"characters"  in  nature,  few  Tartuffes,  Harpagons  or  Alcestes; — hut 
there  are  the  beginnings  of  such  personages  in  everybody  ; — and  to 
develop  these  beginnings  to  the  full  is  to  add  something  to  nature  ; — 
and  to  outstrip  nature  while  imitating  it  [Cf.  the  "  types  "  in  Balzac's 
novels,  in  Eugenie  Grandet  or  Le  Pere  Goriof]. — That  the  ideal  does 
not  consist  solely  in  the  representation  of  beauty ; — but  also  in  the 
portrayal  of  characters  or  of  types. — Add  to  this  that  most  of  the 
more  important  of  Moliere's  comedies  are  written  to  some  extent 
in  support  of  a  thesis ; — and  a  thesis,  in  the  drama  as  in  the  novel, 
implies  that  the  writer  criticises  nature  while  imitating  it ; — not  to  go 
so  far  as  to  say  that  he  proposes  to  correct  nature. — This  is  exactly 
Moliere's  case; — and  to  this  circumstance  is  due  the  "satirical" 
force  of  his  comedy. — Finally,  Moliere  wrote  in  general  in  verse  ; — 
and  prosaic  as  his  verse  may  be  in  general, — there  are  things  it  is 
impossible  to  express  in  verse. 

C.  Moliere's  influence ; — and  that  in  110  branch  of  literature  has 
the  influence  of  a  writer  been  more  considerable  upon  the  works 
belonging  to  that  particular  branch. — His  influence  on  Regnard  ;  the 
Folies  amoureuses  is  merely  the  Ecole  des  femmes  travestied  by  the 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     181 

ing  their  work  in  liberty,  of  their  enforcing  the  esteem  of 
their  adversaries,  or  of  their  triumphing  over  the  resistance 
of  the  coteries  and  of  opinion.  Without  the  protection  of 
Louis  XIV.,  Moliere  would  have  succumbed  to  the  hos- 
tility of  his  enemies ;  and  it  was  the  king  in  person  who 
overcame  the  disinclination  of  the  courtiers  of  the  former 
regime  to  admire  the  masterpieces  of  Racine.  They  all 
of  them  preferred  Corneille ;  and  to  say  nothing  here  of 

introduction,  after  the  Italian  fashion,  of  disguisements  and  lazzi ; — the 
Legataire  universel  is  merely  a  skilful  combination  of  the  Malade 
imaginaire  and  the  Fourberies  de  Scapin. — His  influence  on  Le 
Sage: — Turcaret  is  merely  a  combination  of  the  Bourgeois  gentil- 
Jwmme  and  the  Comtesse  d'Escarbagnas ; — and  Gil  Bias  itself  is 
merely  a  comedy  of  Moliere  related  in  narrative  and  presented  in 
the  form  of  a  novel. — His  influence  was  not  less  great  abroad  [Cf. 
Macaulay,  Le  TJiedtre  anglais  sous  la  Eestauration].  Fielding's 
comedies  are  merely  "  adaptations  "  of  the  comedy  of  Moliere ;-— and 
the  same  must  be  said  of  one  of  the  masterpieces  of  English  drama 
Sheridan's  School  for  Scandal  [Cf.  Louis  Moland,  Histoire  posthume 
de  Moliere~\. — We  again  meet  with  the  influence  of  Moliere  in 
Beaumarchais'  masterpiece,  which  is  Le  Barbier  de  Seville  [Cf.  for 
the  central  idea  L'Ecole  des  femmes,  and  for  the  subsidiary  details, 
for  instance,  for  the  scene  of  the  singing  master,  the  Malade  imagi- 
naire].— In  consequence,  one  might  almost  say  that  for  the  past  two 
hundred  years  a  comedy  has  been  good  in  proportion  as  it  has 
resembled  the  comedy  of  Moliere  ; — and  mediocre  or  bad  in  propor- 
tion as  it  has  differed  therefrom ; — or,  in  other  words,  that  for  two 
hundred  years  Moliere's  comedy  has  determined  the  form  of  "  Euro- 
pean comedy." 

On  the  other  hand  Moliere  has  exerted  less  influence  on  ideas, — and, 
as  will  be  seen  later  on,  his  attacks  on  preciosity  were  entirely 
unavailing  [Cf.  Roederer,  Memoire  sur  I'histoire  de  la  societe  polie\. — 
Why  it  is  that  women  do  not  care  for  Moliere. — Was  he  successful 
in  his  attacks  on  religion  ? — This,  also,  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
the  case ; — even  his  attacks  on  affected  piety  were  unsuccessful ; — 
admitting  his  Tartuffe  to  be  almost  nearer  the  truth  as  a  picture  of 
the  manners  of  French  society  in  1690  than  as  a  picture  of  those 
manners  in  1665  [Cf.  La  Bruyere]. — But  he  was  most  unsuccessful  of 
all  in  his  attacks  on  doctors ; — indeed,  it  is  since  he  scoffed  at  them 
that  doctors  have  come  to  be  accepted  as  veritable  guides  in  matters 


182     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

the  cabal  of  the  two  Phedre,  who  is  not  acquainted  with 
Mme  de  Sevigne's  estimate  of  the  author  of  Andromaque  ? 
I  fear,  too,  that  had  the  times  been  different,  such  writers 
as  Chapelain  and  Montausier  would  have  caused  the  author 
of  the  Satires  to  be  well  beaten,  to  the  damage  of  their 
reputation — and  to  that  of  the  shoulders  of  the  poet.  And, 
finally,  ought  we  to-day  to  underrate  the  extent  of  the  ser- 
vices rendered  French  literature  by  Louis  XIV.,  rendered 
almost  without  an  effort,  I  mean  by  the  sole  effect  of  his 


of  conscience. — Ought  the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  Moliere's 
failures  that  art  should  have  no  other  object  but  itself? 

No,  if  a  number  of  persons  continue  to  regard  Moliere  as  their  master 
in  the  matter  of  conduct. — The  exaggeration  on  this  score  of  Moliere's 
admirers, — and  of  Sainte-Beuve  himself  [Cf.  Nouveaux  Lundis,  vol.  v., 
1864]. — A  remark  of  Goethe  [Cf.  Conversations  with  Eckermann]  ; — 
and  that  neither  the  perfection  of  Moliere's  masterpieces, — nor  the 
trials  of  his  existence  should  blind  us  or  prevent  us  calling  attention  to 
the  limitations  of  his  genius. — His  philosophy  consists  in  part  in  carica- 
turing or  deriding  all  delicacy  [Cf.  Bossuet,  Maximes  sur  la  Comedie, 
and  Rousseau,  Lettre  sur  les  spectacles}  ; — and  that  this  fact  is  the 
explanation  of  his  failure  in  his  conflict  with  preciosity; — since  the 
"precious  "  spirit  represented  in  part  a  legitimate  resistance  to  natural 
coarseness,  and  Moliere  did  not  refrain  from  scoffing  at  this  feature  of 
preciosity. — Whether  it  can  be  said  that  this  hatred  of  preciosity  is 
the  very  essence  of  the  Gallic  genius  [Cf.  Eenan,  La  Farce  de  Pathe- 
lin,  and  La  Theologie  de  Beranger] . — That  a  still  graver  error  of 
Moliere,  and  another  error  that  is  perhaps  inseparable  from  the 
Gallic  genius,  lies  in  his  having  persistently  set  himself  against  every 
idea  of  restraint  and  discipline. 

It  is  our  master  that  is  our  enemy, 
This  I  tell  you  in  plain  French.  .  .  . 

He  must  not  be  reproached  with  having  lacked  nobleness  and 
elevation ; — since  one  does  not  go  to  comedy  for  lessons  in  elevation 
or  nobleness  ; — the  higher  sentiments  not  coming  within  its  scope ; — 
and  as  much  may  perhaps  be  said  of  too  studied  politeness. — Still, 
the  greatness  of  Moliere  would  not  suffer  had  he  here  and  there  been 
less  forcible  or  even  less  violent  when  making  his  points.— And  his 
plays  might  have  inculcated  a  less  easy-going  morality. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     183 

example  and  authority,  when  it  is  remembered  that  he 
obliged  men  of  letters,  by  causing  them  to  mix  with  the 
courtiers,  to  rid  themselves  little  by  little  of  a  certain  middle- 
class  self-sufficiency,  of  a  certain  rusty  pedantry  with  which 
they  were  still  besmeared,  so  to  speak ;  that  in  this  way 
he  secured  their  admission  into  the  ranks  of  polite 
society ;  and  that  it  is  due  to  him  that  they  acquired,  by 
coming  in  contact  with  and  frequenting  statesmen  and 
men  and  women  of  fashion,  a  number  of  qualities  which 


3.  THE  WORKS. — It  will  suffice  to  enumerate  here  those  of  Moliere's 
works  to  which  we  have  not  had  occasion  to  refer  above.  They  are  : 
Le  Medecin  volant,  and  La  Jalousie  du  Barbouille,  two  sketches  of 
dubious  authenticity  : — Dom  Garde  de  Navarre,  1661 ;  Les  Fdcheux, 
1661 ;  La  Princesse  d1  Elide,  1664  ;  Le  mariage  force,  1664  ;  I1  Amour 
medecin,  1665 ;  Le  medecin  malgre  lui,  1666 ;  Melicerte,  1666 ;  Le 
Sicilien,  1667 ;  and  Les  amants  magnifiques,  1670 ; — two  pieces  of 
verse:  Le  Remerciement  au  roi  and  La  Gloire  de  Val-de-Grdce ; — 
and  in  the  last  place  his  Prefaces  and  Dedications  and  his  Petitions  to 
Hie  King  in  connection  with  Tartuffe. 

The  principal  editions  are,  as  regards  original  editions  or  editions 
deserving  to  be  regarded  as  such,  the  edition  of  1666 ; — that  of  1673 ; 
— that  of  1674  ; — and  that  of  1682  by  Lagrange  and  Vivot.  These  four 
editions  form  a  first  connected  batch  to  which  may  be  added  the 
Elzevir  editions.  The  edition  of  1682,  which  some  publishers  adopt 
as  their  standard  even  to-day,  is  as  incorrect  as  it  is  ugly. 

Next  in  order  come :  the  edition  of  1734  [with  the  commentary  of 
Joly  and  La  Serre  and  Bouchers'  illustrations]  6  vols.  in  4to,  Paris, 
Prault ; — and  the  edition  of  the  "  Librairies  associes  "  [with  Bret's 
commentary  and  Moreau's  illustrations],  Paris,  1773.  The  first  is  the 
finer,  and  the  second  the  more  estimable. 

Among  the  many  modern  editions  may  be  cited :  A  Begnieir's 
edition,  5  vols.  4to,  Paris,  1878,  Imprimerie  Nationale ; — and  the 
edition  in  the  series  of  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains,"  edited  by  Mine 
Eugene  Despois  and  Paul  Mesnard,  Paris,  1873-1893,  Hachette, 
11  vols.  in  8vo. 

III.— Jean  de  La  Fontaine  [Chateau-Thierry,  1621;  f  1695, 
Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Baillet,  Jugements  des  savants,  vol.  v.  of  the  edition 


184     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

are  not  come  by  as  a  rule  in  the  back  parlour  of  a 
"  master  upholsterer  "  or  in  the  household  of  a  clerk  of 
the  Courts  ? 

For  it  is  at  this  juncture  that  under  the  combined 
influence  of  all  these  causes,  French  literature  becomes 
at  once  really  human,  in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word, 
and  really  naturalist  or  natural.  What  is  more  "  natural  " 
than  the  comedy  of  Moliere  unless  it  be  the  tragedy  of 
Eacine ;  and  what  is  more  human  ?  It  is  by  this  cha- 

of  1722,  No  1551  [Cf.  Fureteire's  second  Factum] ; — Louis  Racine, 
Memoires  sur  la  vie  de  son  pere,  1747 ; — Matthieu  Marais,  Histoire 
de  la  vie  et  des  ouvrages  de  la  Fontaine,  published  for  the  first  time 
in  1811 ; — Walckenaer,  Histoire  de  la  vie  et  des  ouvrages  de  La 
Fontaine,  Paris,  1820,  1822, 1824,  1858; — -Paul  Mesnard's  biographical 
notice  preceding  the  La  Fontaine  in  the  series  of  the  "  Grands 
Ecrivains,"  Paris,  1883. 

C.  Robert,  Fables  inedites  des  XII",  XIIIe  et  XIV  siecles  and 
Fables  de  La  Fontaine,  Paris,  1825  ; — Lessing,  Abhandlungen  iiber 
die  Fabel  [1759],  vol.  viii.  of  the  collected  edition  of  his  works 
published  by  Gosc.hen,  1868,  Leipsic  ; — Saint-Marc  Girardin,  La 
Fontaine  et  les  Fabulistes,  a  series  of  lectures  delivered  in  1858-1859, 
and  published  in  1867,  Paris ; — Max  Muller,  La  Migration  des 
fables,  in  his  Essais  de  mythologie  comparee,  London  and  Paris, 
1870. 

Chamfort,  Eloge  de  La  Fontaine,  1774  ; — Taine,  La  Fontaine  et 
ses  fables,  Paris,  1853-1860 ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  litteraires, 
vol.  i.,  1829,  and  Causeries,  vol.  xiii.,  1857 ; — G.  Lafenestre,  La 
Fontaine  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  fran9ais  "  series,  Paris,  1895. 

Damas-Hinard,  La  Fontaine  et  Buffon,  Paris,  1861 ;  —P.  de 
Remusat,  La  Fontaine  naturaliste,  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes, 
December  1,  1869;  —  Nicolardot,  La  Fontaine  et  la  Comedie 
humaine,  Paris,  1885. 

Marty-Laveaux,  Essai  sur  la  langue  de  la  Fontaine,  Paris,  1853 : 
— Th.  de  Banville,  La  Fontaine,  1861,  in  Crepet's  collection  of 
French  poets,  vol.  ii.,  and  at  the  end  of  the  2nd  edition  of  his  Petit 
traite  de  poesie  francaise,  Paris,  1881. 

2.  THE  ARTIST,  THE  MAN  AND  THE  POET. — The  first  part  of  La 
Fontaine's  life  [1621-1660]. — His  neglected  education ;— his  sojourn 
at  the  Oratory ; — his  marriage  [1647] ; — and  that  were  it  not  for 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     185 

racter  of  humanity  that  the  work  of  these  writers  differs 
from,  though  at  the  same  time  it  be  a  continuation  of, 
the  tragedy  of  Corneille,  the  novel  of  La  Caprenede  and 
the  burlesque  comedy  of  Scarron, — rEcolier  de  Salamanque 
or  Dom  Japhet  d'Armenie, — and  as  La  Fontaine  says  in 
speaking  of  the  Fdcheux  : 

We  have  changed  our  method, 
Jodelet  is  no  longer  in  fashion, 
And  now  it  is  incumbent  on  us 
To  follow  nature  with  tJie  utmost  closeness. 

Moliere,  he  would  doubtless  have  been  merely  a  "  Precieux  "  and  a 
"  libertine." — His  adaptation  of  the  "  Eunuch  "  of  Terence,  1654. — 
He  is  pensioned  by  Superintendent  Fouquet,  1657. — His  Sonnets, 
Madrigals,  and  Ballads. — His  poem  Adonis  [Cf.  the  Adonis  of  Shake- 
peare],  1658. — Le  Songe  de  Vaux,  1658 ; — Elegie  aux  nymphes  de 
Vaux,  1661. — La  Fontaine's  relations  with  Moliere,  Boileau,  and 
Racine  [Cf.  the  prologue  to  Psyche,  and  Scherer,  Le  Cabaret  du 
Mouton  blanc  in  his  Etudes  critiques]. — He  exchanges  the  protection 
of  Fouquet  for  that  of  the  Duchesse  de  Bouillon  [Cf .  Amedee  Renee, 
Les  Nieces  de  Mazarin], — The  first  of  the  Contes,  1664-1666  ; — and 
the  early  Fables,  1668. 

La  Fontaine's  character. — His  easy-going  nature  and  his  egoism  ;— 
his  lack  of  dignity ; — his  parasitism. — What  would  have  become  of 
the  social  status  of  the  man  of  letters  if  there  had  been  many  La 
Fontaines? — La  Fontaine's  "  riskiness  "  (gauloiserie) ; — and  what  is 
to  be  understood  by  this  word  [Cf .  Taine  La  Fontaine  et  ses  fables]. — 
Of  the  danger  that  might  attach  to  treating  La  Fontaine  with  too 
much  indulgence ; — that  his  Contes  are,  in  general,  unwholesome  pro- 
ductions;— and  that  he  contrives  to  be  even  more  licentious  than 
Boccaccio,  where  he  follows  his  text  [Cf.  Marc  Monnier,  La  Renais- 
sance de  Dante  a  Lutlier,  Paris,  1884]. — The  reception  accorded  the 
Contes  by  his  contemporaries. — That  La  Fontaine's  naivete  pre- 
vented him  neither  from  depicting  himself  as  a  beau  in  the  prologue 
to  Psyche ; — nor  from  having  amply  sufficient  cunning  to  allow  of  his 
"  eating  the  bread  of  idleness  "  ; — and  how,  in  defiance  of  morality, 
some  of  his  finest  qualities  were  the  outcome  of  his  very  defects. 

A.  The  Artist. — A  remark  of  Mme  de  la  Sabliere  on  the  subject  of 
"  the  Fablier." — For  the  very  reason  that  he  never  took  life  seriously 
and  that  he  lived,  as  it  were,  outside  it,  life  for  him  was  never  anything 
more  than  a  spectacle. — In  what  respect  this  disposition  of  mind  is 


186     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOKY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

It  is  well  understood,  however,  that  this  close  imitation 
of  nature  shall  be  confined  to  the  copying  of  the  most 
general  and  permanent  characteristics  observed  in  it, 
and  shall  not  include  the  rendering  of  any  of  the  acci- 
dental features,  of  the  exceptions  and  deformities  that 
distort  or  corrupt  it, — that  make  nature,  in  fact,  "un- 
natural." Indeed,  although  there  is  no  doubt  that  a 
man  who  is  one-eyed,  lame,  or  humpbacked,  is  still  a 

eminently  that  of  the  "  artist "  [Cf.  G.  Flaubert,  Preface  pour  les 
ceuvres  de  L.  Bouillief] ; — and  that  this  disposition,  coupled  with  La 
Fontaine's  desultory  existence,  explains  how  it  was  that  his  Fables 
were  works  of  a  character  unique  at  the  time. — Corneille  had  been 
a  writer  with  a  purpose ; — Moliere  had  written  in  support  of  this  or 
that  thesis  and  had  engaged  in  conflicts ; — La  Fontaine  merely  aimed 
at  depicting  what  pleased  him ; — or  even  had  no  aim  whatever 
except  that  of  pleasing  himself. — This  attitude  affords  the  key  to 
the  character  of  his  alleged  satire ; — and  Taine's  exaggeration  on 
this  score. — That  men  are  perverted  and  that  women  are  gossips  ; 
— that  the  rich  are  insolent,  and  that  the  poor  are  invariably  obse- 
quious ; — that  the  great  abuse  their  authority  and  that  the  humble 
allow  themselves  to  be  trodden  on  ; — or,  finally,  that  the  lion  is  the 
king  of  animals,  and  that  the  ass  is  eternally  a  dupe ; — that  such  things 
should  be,  never  irritates  La  Fontaine  or  arouses  his  indignation; — and 
yet  that  they  should  do  so  is  the  primary  condition  of  satire. — Satire 
cannot  exist  unaccompanied  by  a  moral  purpose. — La  Fontaine  merely 
"  observes  "  ;  he  never  passes  judgment. — His  maliciousness  never  goes 
further  than  the  amusement  a  poor  philosopher  may  find  in  convicting 
the  great  of  this  world  of  foolishness ; — he  is  of  opinion,  too,  that  what- 
ever is  human,  since  it  is  "natural,"  has  an  equal  claim  upon  the 
attention  of  the  artist ; — and  in  this  way  his  artistic  epicureanism  leads 
him  insensibly  to  naturalism. 

B.  The  Naturalist. — That  in  applying  this  word  to  La  Fontaine,  it 
would  be  going  too  far  to  make  it  mean  that  he  was  a  curious  observer 
of  the  habits  of  animals  [Cf.  Paul  de  Eemusat,  La  Fontaine  natu- 
raliste\ ; — it  is  even  a  question  whether  he  was  a  very  close  observer 
of  their  habits. — Of  scientific  truth  and  poetic  truth. — That,  in  any 
case,  it  is  sufficient  that  La  Fontaine's  animals  should  be  something 
more  for  him  than  mere  human  beings  in  disguise  ; — and  in  point  of 
fact,  they  fulfil  this  condition.- — They  possess  for  him  a  very  individual 
and  clearly  defined  character ; — they  have  their  peculiar  outward 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     187 

man,  it  is  held,  and  quite  rightly,  not  altogether  that  the 
sight  or  the  representation  of  such  beings  is  painful,  but 
that  they  themselves  fall  short,  as  it  were,  of  the  definition 
of  a  man.  Similarly,  while  the  reality  of  an  Attila,  of  a 
Jodelet,  or  of  a  Dom  Japhet  d'Armenie  is  not  denied, — 
though  the  denial  might  be  made,  were  it  desired, — it  is 
held  that  the  characteristics  which  distinguish  these  per- 
sonages from  ordinary  mortals,  cause  them  to  be  exceptions, 

aspect ; — and  more  especially  they  have  idiosyncrasies. — But  in 
describing  him  as  a  naturalist  what  is  meant  is  :  That  in  his  case,  his 
curiosity  with  respect  to  and  the  freedom  with  which  he  imitates  nature 
was  never  restrained  or  moderated ; — by  any  necessity  of  "playing  the 
courtier  " ;  — by  obligations  of  the  kind  which  the  exigencies  of  the  stage 
imposed  on  Moliere  and  Racine  ; — or  by  any  moral  consideration. — It 
resulted  that  his  interests  were  wider  than  those  of  many  of  his  contem- 
poraries ; — and  in  consequence  that  his  work  contains  and  depicts  more 
of  nature  than  the  work  of  any  of  his  contemporaries. — They,  for  then- 
part,  merely  depicted  man  and  not  even  the  whole  of  man; — the 
reverse  is  the  case  with  the  La  Fontaine ; — who  goes  to  the  length  of 
showing  us  man  in  attitudes  he  had  better  have  left  alone. — He  also 
depicted  animals; — a  circumstance  which  gives  life  to  his  fables 
and  distinguishes  them  from  the  jejune  Aesopian  fable  [Cf.  Lessing, 
Abliandlungeri}. — He  also  introduced  into  his  work  the  stars,  the  sky, 
water,  an  entire  "  exterior  nature,"  which  is  absent  from  the  work  of 
his  contemporaries. — Herein  lies  the  charm  of  his  work ; — and  it  is 
this  characteristic  that  renders  it  eminently  suitable,  in  one  respect  at 
least,  and  despite  what  has  been  said  to  the  contrary  [Cf.  J.  J.  Rousseau, 
Emile]  for  the  education  of  children. — Children  derive  *  from  an 
acquaintance  with  La  Fontaine's  fables  much  the  same  benefits  as 
from  visits  to  a  zoological  garden  ; — and  supposing  children  to  learn 
from  the  fables  that  "  people  must  not  be  judged  by  appearances,"  or 
that  "humble  folk  are  the  victims  of  the  folly  of  great  personages," 
what  harm  is  done? — The  same  characteristic  of  familiarity  is  also 
met  with  in  his  style. — However  studied  his  style  may  be  it  is  still 
that  of  a  "  naturalist  "  ; — owing  to  the  freedom  with  which  he  chooses 
his  words  ; — he  does  not  draw  the  line  at  words  of  any  class  ; — owing 
to  his  rare  employment  of  abstract  terms,  or  to  his  happy  way  of 
accompanying  such  terms  with  popular  expressions; — and,  finally, 
owing  to  his  free  and  easy  phraseology,  he  is  always  more  inch'ned 
to  follow  the  dictates  of  sensibility  than  the  rules  of  logic. 


188     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

and  place  them  outside  nature  and  humanity.  This  is  all 
as  yet — for  care  must  be  taken  not  to  confound  one  epoch 
with  another !  Nothing  more  is  aimed  at  than  to  please 
the  average  man.  But  to  please  him  it  is  necessary  in  the 
first  place  to  enter  into  his  feelings,  and  since  it  is 
imperative  that  we  should  ourselves  have  experienced 
these  feelings  before  we  can  be  acquainted  with  them 
and  before  we  can  give  them  expression,  it  comes  about 

How  the  "  naturalism  "  of  La  Fontaine  brings  him  into  touch  with 
Moliere ; — and  that  both  of  them  have  the  same  "philosophy"; — 
though  in  the  case  of  La  Fontaine  it  is  less  reasoned  than  in  that  of 
Moliere. — La  Fontaine  is  a  practical  but  not  a  militant  Epicurean ; 
— he  is  as  much  of  the  school  of  Saint-Evremond  as  of  that  of  Moliere, 
— more  concerned  with  enjoying  life  than  with  preaching ; — and 
sufficiently  easy-going  not  to  be  ruffled  when  fortune  elects  to 
trouble  his  enjoyment. — However,  he  is  above  everything  else  a  poet ; — 
and  it  is  this  last  characteristic  that  definitely  distinguishes  him  from 
certain  of  his  illustrious  contemporaries. 

C.  The  Poet. — A  first  proof  that  he  is  essentially  a  poet  is  his  choice 
of  irregular  or  "  lyric  "  verse; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  depicting 
or  expression  of  sentiment  by  means  of  diversity  of  rhythm. — The 
Alexandrine  only  became  "  lyrical "  by  becoming  "  romantic,"  that  is 
to  say  by  abandoning  classic  uniformity. — Of  La  Fontaine's  versifica- 
tion [Cf.  Theodore  de  Banville,  La  Fontaine}. — Lamartine's  strange 
opinion  on  this  subject ; — and  that  when  he  blamed  La  Fontaine  for  his 
"  unequal "  verses,  he  had  doubtless  forgotten  for  how  many  such  verses 
he  was  responsible  for  himself. — The  poet  is  also  recognisable  in  La 
Fontaine  in  the  discreet  but  perpetual  intervention  of  his  own  personality 
in  his  work ; — it  is  he  in  person  who  acquaints  us  with  his  tastes  and 
his  mode  of  life, — who  even  gives  us  information  as  to  his  furniture  ; — 
and  this  is  another  lyrical  characteristic,  in  view  of  the  limitations 
imposed  on  lyricism  by  the  taste  of  the  time. — Add  the  gift  of  depict- 
ing, of  calling  up  before  the  eye,  material  objects ; — the  rhythm, 
harmony,  and  music  of  his  verse  ; — and  the  higher  gift,  displayed  even 
in  his  Contes,  of  stripping  reality  of  what  is  too  material  about  it,  of 
spiritualising  it. — There  are  verses  of  his  which  are  a  landscape  in 
themselves  : 

But  you  are  born  most  often 
On  the  watery  shores  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  wind  .  .  . 


189 

that  what  is  unusual  or  singular  is  eliminated  little  by 
little  from  the  conception  of  literature.  "What,  Boileau 
is  about  to  ask,  is  a  new  thought  ?  It  is  in  nowise,  as  the 
ignorant  are  disposed  to  believe,  a  thought  nobody  has  ever 
had,  or  that  it  is  improbable  has  ever  occurred  to  anybody : 
on  the  contrary  it  is  a  thought  that  must  have  occurred  to 
every  one."  This  point  established,  let  us  call  to  mind  one 
of  the  Satires  or  Epistles  of  Boileau  himself,  one  of  the 
comedies  of  Moliere,  the  Ecole  des  Femmes  or  the  Misan- 

There  are  others  that  evoke  a  season  of  the  year : 

When  the  mild  zephyrs  have  renewed  the  grass  .  .  . 

and  there  are  others  which,  while  they  caress  the  eye  and  charm  the 
ear,  transport  us  into  dreamland  and  the  realm  of  illusion  : 

Softly  cradled  by  calm  vapours, 

Her  head  on  her  arm  and  her  arm  on  the  cloud, 

Letting  flowers  fall,  and  not  strewing  them  .  .  . 

If  these  qualities  make  of  him  a  man  "  unique  hi  his  kind,"  do  they 
sever  all  connection  between  him  and  the  literature  of  his  time  '? — 
No ;  and  his  artistic  ideal  is  in  close  conformity  with  that  of  his 
illustrious  contemporaries. — By  his  general  mode  of  thinking  he  is  of 
the  family  of  Moliere  and  of  Boileau ; — by  his  mode  of  depicting  and 
of  expression  he  is  of  the  family  of  Racine ; — and  we  have  said  that  to 
start  with  he  belonged  to  the  school  of  Voiture  and  Racan. — The  main 
difference  between  him  and  his  contemporaries  lies  in  the  fact  that  he 
wrote  more  especially  for  himself ; — which  is  doubtless  permissible  in 
the  Fable  as  in  the  Ode ; — while  it  is  not  permissible  in  the  drama. 

The  last  years  of  La  Fontaine. — Admiration  aroused  by  his  Fables ; 
— and  why  did  Boileau  make  no  allusion  to  them  in  his  Art  poetique  ? 
— Suppositions  on  this  score ; — and  that  in  any  case  the  Dissertation 
sur  Joconde  relieves  us  of  the  necessity  of  regarding  the  fact  in  a  light 
unfavourable  to  Boileau. — The  successive  editions  of  the  Contes : 
1667  ;  1669  ;  1671 ;  1674 ;— The  lieutenant  of  police  decides  to  con- 
fiscate them.— The  Fables  of  1678  [books,  7,  8,  9,  10,  and  11].— 
Testimony  of  Mine  de  Sevigne. — The  incident  in  connection  with  the 
Academy,  1683. — Did  La  Fontaine  keep  the  promise  he  had  made  "  to 
be  on  his  best  behaviour''? — The  Aveux  indiscrets  and  the  Fleuve 
Scamandre. — His  relations  with  Mme  d'Hervart, — with  the  Vendouie 


190     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

thrope,  one  of  the  tragedies  of  Racine,  Andromaque  or 
Bajazet,  one  of  the  fables  of  La  Fontaine,  Les  Animaux 
malades  de  la  Peste  or  Le  Meunier,  son  Fits  et  I'Ane,  one 
of  La  Rochefoucauld's  maxims  or  one  of  the  sermons  of 
Bossuet  or  of  Bourdaloue.  Different  as  these  works  may 
be,  their  chief  merit  is  to  belong  to  all  periods  and  to  all 
countries,  to  depict  man  in  general  and  not  merely  the 
Frenchman  of  the  seventeenth  century,  to  be  natural  in 
that  they  are  human,  human  because  they  are  natural. 


family  [Cf.  Desnoiresterres,  Les  cours  galantes  and  La  jeunesse  de 
Voltaire] — with  Mme  Ulrich  [Cf.  (Euvres  de  la  Fontaine,  Regnier's 
edition,  letters  26  and  27]. — That  it  is  unfortunate  that  we  should 
know  nothing  of  the  poet's  last  protectress  except  what  we  learn  from 
the  police  records. — The  illness  and  conversion  of  La  Fontaine  in 
1692. — He  takes  to  writing  pious  poetry. — His  last  letter  to  his  friend 
Maucroix, — and  his  death. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — In  addition  to  his  Fables,  of  which  the  dates  of 
publication  have  been  given  above,  La  Fontaine  is  the  author : — (1) 
of  five  books  of  Contes,  of  which  the  dates  have  also  been  given  ; — (2) 
five  Poems :  Adonis,  1658,  published  for  the  first  time  in  1669 ; 
Quinquina,  1682;  La  captivite  de  saint  Male,  1673;  Philemon  et 
Baucis  ;  and  Les  Filles  de  Minee,  1685 ; — (3)  various  poems,  including 
six  Elegies,  nine  Odes,  thirteen  Ballads,  twenty-five  Epistles,  and  a 
number  of  Dizains,  Sizains,  Chansons,  Madrigaux,  etc. ; — (4)  some 
minor  works  in  prose,  interspersed  with  verse :  Psyche  et  Cupidon ; 
Le  Songe  de  Vaux  [a  fragment]  ;  Lettres  a  sa  femme ; — and  (5)  his 
Dramas,  of  which  there  are  twelve  in  all,  from  his  adaptation  of 
L'Eunuque,  1654,  to  the  two  first  acts  of  a  piece  entitled  Achille, 
published  for  the  first  time  in  1785.  La  Fontaine  was  destitute  of 
dramatic  genius. 

The  separate  editions  of  the  Contcs  and  of  the  Fables  are  too 
numerous  for  it  to  be  possible  to  give  even  the  principal  of  them  here, 
and  we  shall  confine  ourselves  to  mentioning,  on  account  of  the 
beauty  of  their  illustrations,  the  edition  of  the  Fables,  1735-1759,  4 
vols.  in  folio,  illustrated  by  Oudry ; — and  the  edition  of  the  Contes 
known  as  that  of  the  "  Fermiers  Generaux,"  Amsterdam  [Paris],  1  vol. 
in  8vo,  1762,  illustrated  by  Eisen. 

The  best  editions  of  the  complete  works  are  :  the  successive  editions 
brought  out  by  Walckenaer,  who  made  the  life  and  works  of  La 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     191 

Indeed — were  I  not  afraid  of  the  expression  appearing 
somewhat  metaphysical, — I  would  say  of  these  works 
that  they  are  fragments  of  nature  and  humanity  shown 
under  their  eternal  aspect. 

Their  human  character  does  not  prevent  them  being 
national  at  the  same  time :  and  by  the  word  national  I 
would  express  three  things,  which  go  together,  but  which 
it  is  possible  and  necessary  to  distinguish.  Henceforth 
our  writers  esteem,  that  were  they  to  take  lessons  from 


Fontaine  his  own  special  property  as  it  were,  Paris,  1822,  1826,  1835, 
1838,  1840 ; — Marty-Laveaux'  edition,  in  the  "  Bibliotheque  Elzevir- 
ienne,"  Paris,  1857-1877  ; — and  H.  Regnier's  edition,  in  the  "  Grands 
Ecrivains  "  series,  Paris,  1883-1892,  Hachette. 

IV. — Jacques-Benigne  Bossuet  [Dijon,  1627 ;  f  1704,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Levesque  de  Burigny,  Vie  de  Bossuet,  1761  ; — 
Cardinal  de  Bausset,  Histoire  de  Bossuet,  Paris,  1814  ; — Floquet, 
Etudes  sur  la  vie  de  Bossuet,  Paris,  1855  ;  and  Bossuet  precepteur  du 
Dauphin,  1864 ; — Abbe  Guettee,  Journal  [1  vol.]  and  Memoires  [3 
vols.]  de  I'abbe  Le  Dieu,  Paris,  1856 ; — Abbe  Reaurne,  Histoire  de 
Jacques-Benigne  Bossuet,  Paris,  1869 ; — Abbe  Delmont,  Quid  con- 
ferant  latina  Bossuetii  opera  ad  cognoscendam  illius  vitam  .  .  . 
Paris,  1896. 

P.  de  la  Rue,  Oraison  funebre  de  Bossuet,  1704 ; — Maury,  Essai  sur 
I'eloquence  de  la  chaire,  1777  ; — Doin  Deforis,  in  his  notices  preceding 
the  volumes  of  the  first  edition  of  Bossuet's  sermons,  1772 ; — 
Jacquiiiet,  Les  Predicateurs  du  XVII1'  siecle  avant  Bossuet,  Paris, 
1863  and  2nd  edition,  1885  : — Abbe  Vaillant,  Etudes  sur  les  sermons  de 
Bossuet,  Paris,  1851 ;— Gandar,  Bossuet  orateur,  Paris,  1867  ;  and 
Edmond  Scheref 's  review  of  this  book,  Etudes,  1867 ; — Abbe  Lebarq, 
Histoire  critique  de  la  predication  de  Bossuet,  Paris,  2nd  edition, 
1891 ; — Freppel,  Bossuet  et  I'eloquence  sacree  au  XVIP  siecle,  Paris, 
1893. 

Gerin,  Recherches  sur  Vaxsemblee  du  clerge  de  France  en  1682, 
Paris,  1870,  2nd  edition ; — Abbe  J.  T.  Loyson,  L'Assemblee  du  clerge 
d^e  France  en  1682,  Paris,  1870  [Cf.  the  books  of  J.  de  Maistre,  Du 
Pape  and  De  I'Eglise  galiicane,  the  second  of  which  in  particular  is 
directed  against  Bossuet]. 

Voltaire,  Essai  sur  les  moeurts ; — Turgot,  Discours  de  Sorbonne  and 


192    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE 

the  foreigner,  from  the  Spaniards,  or  the  Italians,  as 
their  fathers  had  done  and  a  'few  of  their  belated  con- 
temporaries were  still  doing,  they  would  be  false  to  the 
guiding  spirit  of  the  reign,  and  guilty  of  a  public  act  of 
ingratitude  to  the  sovereign  who  has  accorded  them  his 
protection.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  they  refuse  to 
consider  the  works,  which  had  been  most  admired  by  the 
preceding  generation, — Tasso's  Gerusalemme  liberata  or 
Georges  de  Montemayor's  .Dwme  enamour ee,  for  example 


Fragments  historiques,  vol.  ii.  of  his  collected  works ; — Herder,  Idees 
sur  la  philosophic  de  I'histoire  de  Vlmmanite. 

Bebelliau,  Bossuet,  historien  du  protestantisme,  Paris,  1891. 

Abbe  Bellon,  Bossuet,  directeur  de  conscience,  Paris,  1895. 

Abbe  de  la  Broise,  Bossuet  et  la  Bible,  Paris,  1890. 

Th.  Delmont,  Bossuet  et  les  saints  Peres,  Paris,  1896. 

Tabaraud,  Supplement  aux  histoires  de  Bossuet  et  de  Fenelon, 
Paris,  1822 ; — A.  Bonnel,  La  controverse  de  Bossuet  et  de  Fenelon  sur 
le  quietisme,  Macon,  1850; — Guerrier,  Madame  Guyon,  sa  vie  et  sa 
doctrine,  Paris,  1881 : — Crousle,  Bossuet  et  Fenelon,  Paris,  1894. 

Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  x.,  1854;  vol.  xii.,  1856;  vol. 
xiii.  1857  ;  and  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  xii. — Poujoulat,  Lettres  sur 
Bossuet,  Paris,  1854  ; — G.  Lanson,  Bossuet,  Paris,  1891. 

2.  THE  LIFE,  THE  BOLE  AND  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  BOSSUET. — Bossuet 
never  having  written  a  line  that  was  not  an  act,  the  history  of  his  life 
is  inseparable  from  that  of  his  work. — His  birth,  and  that  it  is 
important  to  keep  in  view  that  he  came  of  a  family  of  magistrates  ; — 
his  studies  at  Dijon  [college  des  Godrans]  ; — and  in  Paris  at  the 
college  of  Navarre  and  at  the  Sorbonne. — He  is  ordained  priest  and 
appointed  archdeacon  of  Sarrebourg,  1652 ; — his  sojourn  at  Metz  [Cf. 
Floquet,  vol.  ii.  and  Gandar,  Bossuet  orateur]  ; — and  that  it  is  at 
Metz,  from  1653-1659,  that  he,  as  it  were,  fixed  on  almost  all  his 
ideas. — Did  Bossuet  traverse  a  period  of  doubt  ? — and  in  what  sense 
the  question  must  be  understood. — An  observation  as  to  his  character 
and  that  few  men  have  less  resembled  their  style. — That  it  does  not 
appear,  however,  that  his  doubts  ever  shook  the  foundation  of  his 
faith. — To  what  extent  his  perplexities  resembled  those  of  Pascal  and 
to  what  extent  they  differed  from  them. — Of  Bossuet's  predilection  for 
Saint  Chrysostom  among  the  Greek  Fathers,  and  for  Saint  Augustin 
among  the  Fathers  of  the  Latin  Church. — Whether,  in  the  course  of 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     193 

— otherwise  than  as  the  obstacle  which  has  hindered  them 
too  long  from  being  themselves.  To  appreciate  this  feel- 
ing, it  is  only  necessary  to  read  Boileau's  Dissertation 
sur  Joconde, — which  is  one  of  his  first  works, — and  to 
note  with  what  assurance  he  accords  La  Fontaine  the 
superiority  over  Ariosto,  in  a  case  were  the  former  is 
treating  a  subject  borrowed  from  the  latter  !  His  attitude 
is  tantamount  to  a  declaration  that  in  a  work  of  art  the 
subject  is  of  no  account,  while  the  style  is  all  important ; 


his  studious  life,  he  did  not  somewhat  neglect  the  study  of  men  ? — 
Difference  in  this  respect  between  him  and  Pascal. — His  first 
published  work :  La  Refutation  du  catechisme  de  Paul  Ferry,  1665. 
— His  first  sermons  [Cf.  Gandar,  and  more  especially  Lebarq,  Histoire 
critique']. — He  takes  up  his  residence  in  Paris,  1659. 

A.  Bossuet's  Sermons. — The  history  of  Bossuet's  sermons  [Cf. 
Lebarq,  Histoire  critique], — He  preached  in  Paris: — in  1660,  the 
Lenten  sermons  at  the  Minimes  of  the  Place  Royale; — in  1661,  the 
Lenten  sermons  at  the  Carmelites  of  the  Faubourg  Saint-  Jacques ; — 
in  1662,  the  Lenten  sermons  before  the  Court ; — in  1665,  the  Advent 
sermons  before  the  Court ; — ha  1666,  the  Lenten  sermons  before  the 
Court ; — in  1668,  the  Advent  sermons  at  Saint-Thomas  du  Louvre ; — 
and  in  1669  the  Advent  sermons  before  the  Court. — The  Oraison 
funebre  de  Nicolas  Cornet,  1663,  and  the  funeral  oration  on  the  Queen 
of  England,  1669,  must  be  included  in  the  same  period. — The  latter 
sermon  is  thf  second  work  he  published,  at  the  desire  of  Madame  the 
Duchesse  d'Orleans. — Bossuet's  three  "  manners." — The  first  is  more 
especially  "  theological  and  didactic  "  [Cf.  Sermon  sur  la  Bonte  et  la 
Rigueur  de  Dieu; — Premier  sermon  pour  Vendredi  Saint ; — Panegy- 
rique  de  saint  Gorgon; — Panegyrique  des  saints  Agnis  gardiens\. — 
The  sermons  in  this  manner  are  longer  than  those  that  followed  them  ; 
more  encumbered  with  dissertations  ; — less  skilfully  composed ; — they 
offer  too  a  realism  of  expression  that  is  sometimes  excessive  : — but  for 
this  very  reason  they  are  more  "coloured." — The  masterpiece  of  this 
first  manner  is  the  Panegyrique  de  saint  Paul,  1657 — in  which  more- 
over the  second  manner  is  foreshadowed. — This  second  manner  is 
more  especially  "philosophic  and  moral"; — although  not  at  all 
"  lay  "  on  this  account ; — moreover,  these  distinctions  are  not  to  be 
taken  too  literally  [Cf.  the  sermons :  sur  la  Providence,  1656  and 
1662,— sur  la  Mort,  1662,— sur  V Ambition,  1662  and  1666,— sur  U 

14 


194    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

and  since  it  was  generally  admitted  that  we  were  justi- 
fied in  regarding  the  Greeks  and  more  especially  the 
Romans  as  ancestors  rather  than  as  foreigners,  it  is  by 
freeing  itself,  by  means  of  originality  of  style,  from  all 
foreign  influence,  that  our  literature  takes  the  first  step 
towards  becoming  truly  national. 

It  makes  further  progress  in  this  direction  by  developing 
henceforth,  out  of  its  own  resources,  and  shut  off,  as  it 
were,  from  every  external  influence,  certain  more  deep- 


Delai  de  la  conversion,  1665, — sur  la  Justice,  1666, — pour  la  fete  de  la 
Toussaint,  1669]. — Bossuet,  like  Pascal,  endeavours  to  prove  that 
religion,  independently  of  the  numerous  other  reasons  that  make  belief 
in  it  incumbent,  is  of  all  the  "philosophies"  that  which  offers  the 
best  explanation  of  man  and  nature. — The  composition  is  at  once 
freer  and  more  original ; — the  style,  while  perhaps  less  coloured, 
has  more  spaciousness  and  movement,  is  more  oratorical,  or  it  may 
even  be  said  more  "lyric." — Finally,  and  if  only  the  sermons  proper 
be  taken  into  account,  the  third  manner  might  rather  be  described 
as  "  homiletic," — by  which  is  meant  less  strained,  more  indulgent, 
and  above  all  less  imperious  ; — in  the  sermons  in  this  manner 
there  is  less  of  the  spirit  of  the  Bible  or  of  the  Old  Testament  and  more 
of  that  of  the  Gospels  [Cf.  the  sermons :  pour  la  Pentecote, — (the 
third)  pour  la  fete  de  la  Circoncision, — (the  third)  pour  le  jour  de 
Noel~\. — The  sermons  in  this  last  manner  are  fewer  in  number; — 
doubtless  because  Bossuet  had  come  to  improvise  with  greater  ease ; 
and  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  were  contemporary  with  the 
most  important  Funeral  Orations. 

Did  Bossuet's  contemporaries  appreciate  his  sermons  at  their  full 
value  ? — Evidence  on  this  subject  [Cf.  Etudes  critiques,  vol.  v., 
r Eloquence  de  Bossuef], — In  any  case  it  seems  that  the  glory  of  the 
controversialist  was  prejudicial  to  that  of  the  orator. — To  say  of 
Bossuet  that  he  was  too  superior  to  his  audience  to  be  appreciated  by 
it,  is  to  make  a  strange  mistake  with  respect  to  listeners  who  were 
Pascal's  readers  and  Eacine's  spectators. — A  remark  of  Nisard  on  this 
subject. — It  is  also  not  to  recognise  the  way  in  which  eloquence  exerts 
its  influence. — That  if,  as  Voltaire  declares,  "  Bossuet  ceased  to  be 
accounted  the  first  among  the  preachers  from  the  moment  Bourdaloue 
appeared,"  the  reason  is  very  simple ; — it  is  that  Bourdaloue  made  his 
appearance  in  the  Paris  pulpits  just  as  Bossuet  was  leaving  them, — 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FKENCH   LITERATURE     195 

lying  qualities  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  define,  but  the 
"  national  "  character  of  which  is  evinced  by  the  circum- 
stance that  foreigners,  to  whom  they  do  not  appeal,  are 
blind  to  them.  Among  them  are  some  of  the  qualities 
which  Frenchmen  esteem  more  highly,  perhaps,  than  any 
others  in  Eacine  :  depth  and  subtlety  of  analysis  and 
moral  observation  ;  a  style  of  apparent  but  studied  negli- 
gence, and  of  a  suppleness  that  may  be  said  to  respond  to 
the  most  hidden  movements  of  passion ;  harmony  of 


and  was  only  to  mount  them  again  at  rare  intervals; — owing  to  his 
being  appointed  bishop  of  Condom,  1669  ; — and  tutor  to  the  Dauphin, 
1670. 

B.  Bossuefs  role  at  Court. — He  publishes  his  Exposition  de  la 
doctrine  de  VEglise  sur  les  matieres  de  controverse,  1671 ; — he  endea- 
vours to  estrange  Louis  XIV.  from  Mme  de  Montespan ; — his  "  Letters 
to  the  King,"  1675 ; — his  "  Letter  to  Marshal  de  Bellefonds,"  1675. 
— Was   Bossuet  wanting  in   courage   on   this    occasion  ? — and  what 
could  he  have  done  in  addition  to  what  he  did '? — Of  the  education  of 
the  Dauphin,  and  of  the  way  in  which  Bossuet  conducted  it  [Cf.  the 
Lettre  au  pape  Innocent  XI.,  March  8,  1679]. — The  question  of  the 
"  regale"  and  the  assembly  of  the  clergy  [Cf.  Gerin  and  Loyson]. — 
Was  Louis  XIV.  prepared  to  go  as  far  as  a  schism  ? — The  sermon  sur 
V unite  de  I'Eglise,  1681. — How  the  parliamentary  traditions  of  his 
family ; — his  education  at  the   Sorbonne ; — the    complaisance   of   a 
faithful  subject  and  of  a  good  Frenchman ; — and  the  idea  he  had 
formed  of  Pope  Innocent  XL,  induced  Bossuet  to  take  up  the  attitude 
he  adopted  on  this  occasion. — Characteristic  remarks  of  Joseph  de 
Maistre  in  his  book,  de  VEglise  gallicane  [bk.  ii.,  ch.  8]. — The  four 
articles. — Marriage   of    the    Dauphin,    1680 ; — Bossuet    is    appointed 
chaplain  to  the  Dauphine,  1680; — and  the  following  year  bishop  of 
Meaux. 

C.  The   Discours   sur   Vhistoire  universelle. — Of  all  the   writings 
Bossuet  composed  for  the  education  of  the  Dauphin,  the  Discours  is 
the  only  one  Bossuet  published  himself. — His  reasons  for  publishing 
it ; — and  that  they  are  analogous  to  those  which  led  Pascal  to  compose 
his  apology. — Of  the  criticisms  of  which  the  Discours  has  been  the 
object,  and  that  some  of  them  do  not  take  into  account  that  the 
Discours  which  has  come  down  to  us  was  to  have  been  followed  by 
a  second; — that   others   are   the   consequence   of  the   Discours  not 


196     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

proportion ;  and  in  general  all  the  qualities,  which,  it 
must  be  admitted,  the  oratorical  character  of  his  tragedies 
seems  to  place  beyond  the  ken  of  all  those  who  are  not 
of  French  birth.  To  the  same  category  belong  certain 
of  the  qualities  of  Bossuet.  Universal  justice  is  rendered 
to  the  vigour  and  precision  of  his  language ;  he  is  admired 
as  an  historian  and  as  a  controversialist ;  and  homage  is 
paid  the  orator,  who  was  more  abundant  than  Cicero  and 
more  nervous  than  Demosthenes.  I  am  not  certain 


being  read  aright,  and  of  its  second  part  being  neglected :  the  part 
entitled  La  suite  de  la  Religion. — And  yet  this  second  part  is  the 
more  important ; — in  this  sense,  that  in  it  Bossuet  replies :  to  the 
attacks  of  the  "  libertines "  on  religion ; — to  Spinoza's  Traite 
theologico-politique ; — and  to  the  new-born  exegesis  of  Richard  Simon. 
— Beauty  of  the  scheme  of  the  Discours. — Simplicity,  vigour,  and 
majesty  of  the  style. — To  what  extent  has  modern  erudition  destroyed 
the  value  of  the  Discours  sur  Vhistoire  universelle  ?• — Confession  of 
Eenan  on  this  point ;  and  that  the  final  effort  of  his  "  philology  "  was 
to  recognise  that  there  were  only  "  three  histories  of  paramount 
interest :  Grecian,  Roman,  and  Jewish  " ;  and  that  in  consequence 
to  lead  up  from  the  two  first  to  their  point  of  contact  with  the  third, 
even  though  it  be  only  a  method,  is  the  right  method. — That,  this 
point  conceded,  Bossuet's  judgments  on  particular  incidents  retain  a 
real,  "  scientific  "  value ; — and  contain  observations,  the  justice  and 
depth  of  which  have  not  since  been  surpassed. — It  should  be  added 
that  he  founded  the  "philosophy  of  history  "  as  a  part  of  European 
literature  [Cf.  Robert  Flint,  La  Philosophic  de  VHistoire^. 

D.  Bossuet's  leading  idea:  the  reunion  of  the  Churches. — What 
were  his  reasons  for  believing  this  reunion  possible. — Numerous  con- 
versions in  which  he  had  a  share. — The  conversion  of  Turenne. — 
Difficulties  experienced  by  the  Protestants  in  refuting  the  doctrine  of 
the  Exposition. — The  Conference  avec  M.  Claude,  1682. — The  great 
Oraisons  funebres. — The  progress  of  "  libertinism  "  and  the  Oraison 
funebre  d'Anne  de  Gonzague. — The  Oraison  funebre  de  Michel  Le 
Tellier  and  the  repeal  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. — -That  just  as  the  idea 
of  Providence  dominates  all  Bossuet's  philosophy,  so  the  idea  or  the 
dream  of  the  reunion  of  the  Churches  dominates  all  his  controversial 
writings. — That  this  circumstance  explains : — his  indulgent  attitude 
[Cf .  Ingold,  Bossuet  et  le  Jansenisme,  Paris,  1897]  towards  Jansenism ; 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FEENCH  LITEEATURE     197 

whether  the  fund  of  naturalness,  of  simplicity,  and  I  will 
venture  to  say  of  familiarity,  that  underlies  the  splen- 
dour of  his  inimitable  eloquence  is  appreciated  outside 
France,  where  it  may  be,  too,  full  justice  is  not  done  to 
his  remarkable  freedom  from  rhetoric,  artificiality,  and 
self-sufficient  literary  vanity.  Again,  to  take  La  Fon- 
taine, how  many  foreigners  are  there  who  understand  the 
rare  admiration  we  have  for  the  unique  combination  he 
offers  of  easy-going  Epicureanism,  Gallic  maliciousness, 

— his  severity  towards  the  Casuists ; — his  role  in  the  assembly  of  1682 ; 
— and  his  apologetic  method. — In  his  opinion  only  one  question 
separates  Protestants  and  Catholics :  the  question  of  the  Church  ; — 
and  his  only  reason  for  writing  his  Histoire  des  variations  was  to 
show  by  what  sure  signs  the  true  Church  is  to  be  recognised. 

E.  The  Histoire  des  variations  des  eglises  protestantes,    1688. — 
Recent  discussions  on  this  subject  [Cf.  Rebelliau,  Bossuet  historieri] ; 
and  that  Bossuet  showed  himself  a  true  historian  in  this  great  work. 
His  solid  erudition ; — his  acute  and  impartial  criticism. — Moreover,  in 
this  book,  which  is  too  little  read,  are  to  be  found  some  of  the  finest 
passages  Bossuet   ever   wrote.      The  portraits  in  the   Histoire   des 
variations  ;  —  the    narrative   passages  ;  —  the   dialectics.  —  Sobriety, 
vigour,    and     fluency     of     Bossuet's    style.  —  Effect    produced    by 
the    Histoire   des   variations. — It    is    attacked    by   Burnet   and    by 
Jurien    in    his    Lettres  pastorales. — Bossuet    replies    to   Burnet    in 
his    Defense   de    V Histoire    des    Variations,    1691 ; — and   to    Jurien 
by    his    Avertissements     aux     Protestants,    1689-1691.  —  In    what 
sense  the  Avertissements  form  a  constituent  part  of  the  Histoire  des 
variations. — The  three  first  Avertissements  [Cf.  Pressense,  Les  trois 
premiers  siecles  de  VEglise  chretienne ;  and  Ad.  Harnak,  Lehrbuch  der 
Dogmen  Geschichte,  2nd  edition,  Fribourg,  1888-1890]  ; — the  fourth 
Avertissement  dealing  with  Christian  marriage ; — the  sixth  Avertisse- 
ment ;    and   whether  in  it   Bossuet  did  not   foresee,  point  out  and 
describe  in  advance,  the  evolution  of  contemporary  Protestantism  ? — 
That  in  any  case  the  problem  continues  to  turn  upon  the  reconcilia- 
tion of  Protestant  individualism  with  the  pretension  of  Protestantism 
to  found  churches. — Of  the  masterly  clearness  of  Bossuet's  treatment 
of  these  difficult  and  obscure  questions ; — and  that  even  in  his  sermons 
there  is  nothing  more  oratorical  than  in  the  Avertissements  or  in  the 
Histoire  des  variations. 


193    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

and  unalloyed  poetry  ?  Above  all  they  have  a  difficulty 
in  comprehending  how  it  is  that  a  writer  who,  more  than 
any  of  his  fellows,  "went  to  the  ancients  for  his  inspira- 
tion" should  be  "the  most  French  of  our  poets";  that 
a  collection  of  Fables,  every  one  of  which  is  borrowed 
from  a  foreign  source,  should  yet  be  wholly  creative 
work  throughout. 

There  is  still  another  point,  however,  for  in  my  opinion 
the  most  national  feature  of  all  these  works  is  precisely 


F.  Other  works  of  Bossuet. — His  Defensio  cleri  gallicani  [posthu- 
mous workj . — His  Defense  de  la  tradition  et  des  saints  Peres  directed 
against  Richard  Simon. — Bossuet's  respect  for  tradition. — Opinion  of 
the  Brandenburg  envoy  upon  Bossuet's  role  [Cf.  Ezechiel  Spanheim, 
Relation   de    la   cour  de   France    en   169ff\. — Correspondence    with 
Leibnitz  [Cf.  Foucher  de  Careil,  CEuvres  de  Leibnitz,  vols.  i.  and  ii., 
Paris,  1867] . — The  Maximes  sur  Iq^comedie,  1693. — The  Quietist  episode. 
— How  Bossuet  came  to  be  mixed  up  in  it  without  such  being  his  in- 
tention.— Importance  of  the  question,  and  how  it  was  complicated  by  a 
political  question  [Cf .  A.  Griveau,  Etude  sur  la  condamnation  du  livre 
des  Maximes  des  saints,  Paris,  1878]. — The  party  of  the  Dauphin  and 
that  of  the  Due  de  Bourgogne  [Cf.  the  correspondence  of  Madame 
duchesse   d' Orleans]. — Of    Bossuet's   role   in  the   controversy. — His 
conception  of   mysticism. — His   writings :    Instruction  sur  les  Etats 
d'oraison,  and  Relation  sur  le  quietisme,  1697-1698.— That  if  during 
the  heat  of  the  conflict  he  was  wanting  in  "  charity,"  his  adversaries 
were  wanting  in  frankness. — The  last  years  of  Bossuet  [1700-1704]. — 
He  finishes  off  the  works  he  had  long  had  in  hand. — He  finishes  his 
Politique ; — his  Elevations  and  his  Meditations ; — he  resumes  writing 
his  Defense  de  la  tradition  et  des  saints  Peres. — His  work  as  a  director 
of  consciences. — His  family  preoccupations  and  his  weakness  for  his 
nephew. — His  solicitations  of  the  king. — His  death. 

G.  The   Elevations  sur   les    mysteres   and    the   Meditations    sur 
VEvangile. — The   conditions    under    which    theslf  two   works   were 
written ; — and    that   Bossuet's    aim  was  to   embody   in    them    the 
substance  of  his  sermons. — He  resorted  to  the  same  process  in  his 
Politique  [Cf .  the  sermons :    sur  les  Devoirs  des  rois,  and  sur   la 
Justice]. — It  is  possible,  too,  that  in  the  Meditations  and  the  Eleva- 
tions there  is  something  of  what  Bossuet  had  had  to  learn  over  again 
in  order  to  combat  Fenelon. — Plan  of  the   Elevations   and  of  the 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

the  impossibility  by  which  we  are  confronted  of  distin- 
guishing in  them  between  what  is  properly  and  purely 
French  and  what  is  universal.  They  possess  the  quality 
of  universality,  and  yet  it  is  inconceivable  that  they  should 
have  seen  the  light  except  in  the  France  of  the  seven- 
teenth century !  While  belonging  to  all  times  and  to 
every  country,  not  only  are  they  of  their  own  time  and 
their  own  country,  but  the  fact  that  they  are  so  seems 
to  constitute  a  part  at  least  of  their  originality.  In  this 


Meditations. — Originality  of  the  former  work  and  its  philosophical 
import. — The  first  "weeks"  of  the  Elevations  contain  some  of 
Bossuet's  finest  inspirations. —  Of  the  accent  of  tenderness  there  is 
in  the  Meditations ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  Bossuet's  gentleness 
of  character. — Testimony  on  this  point : — -of  Pere  de  la  Rue  in  his 
funeral  oration ; — of  Abbe  Le  Dieu  in  his  Journal; — of  Saint- Simon 
in  his  Memoires. — That  the  very  letters  of  the  Elevations  and  the 
Meditations  are  evidence  of  the  lyric  element  there  was  in  Bossuet's 
temperament  [Cf.  Vigney's  Elevations  and  Lamartine's  Meditations]. 
— That  for  this  reason  the  Elevations  and  the  Meditations,  taken 
together,  are  perhaps  the  most  "personal"  of  Bossuet's  works; — 
and  in  this  way  by  leading  him  back  to  the  preoccupations  of  his 
early  years  they  give  his  life  an  harmonious  ending : — after  the  enthu- 
siasm of  his  youth,  the  agitation,  the  cares,  and  the  conflicts  of  his 
maturity ; — perhaps,  too,  the  weaknesses ; — and  to  end  with  his 
retirement  into  the  sanctuary  of  lofty  ideas  and  of  hope. 

H.  Of  the  influence  exerted  by  Bossuet  on  his  contemporaries, — 
and  of  the  injustice  of  the  reproach  that  has  been  addressed  him  [Cf. 
Sainte-Beuve,  Port-Royal,  and  Renan  in  his  introduction  to  Kuenen's 
Histoire  de  I'Ancienne  Testament]  of  not  having  foreseen  Voltaire. — 
How,  on  the  contrary,  a  part  of  his  work  is  directed  against  the 
"  libertines  " ; — how  the  object  of  another  part  is  to  prevent  the 
increase  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  belief ; — and  how  finally 
another  part  proves  that  he  was  alive  to  the  fact  that  the  chief  danger 
run  by  religion  lay  in  the  division  among  Christians  [Cf.  Sermons  sur 
la  Verite  de  la  religion,  1665 ; — Oraison  funebre  de  la  Princesse 
Palatine,  1685 ; — Lettre  a  un  disciple  du  P.  Malebranche,  1687 ; — 
Sixieme  Avertissement  aux  protcstants,  1691]. — That  he  also  foresaw 
what  would  be  the  outcome  of  Richard  Simon's  method  of  criticism ; 
— and  that  he  cannot  reasonably  be  found  fault  with  for  not  having 


200    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

sense  they  are  the  equivalent  of  the  Italian  painting  of 
the  Renaissance  or  of  the  Greek  sculpture  of  the  best 
period,  the  very  universality  of  whose  masterpieces  is 
proof  of  their  national  character,  since,  although  they 
have  been  imitated  everywhere,  they  have  nowhere  been 
even  reproduced,  let  alone  equalled.  The  case  is  the 
same  with  Racine's  tragedies  or  Moliere's  comedies  ;  and 
the  fact  that  it  is  difficult  to  explain  this  mystery  is  no 
reason  for  denying  it.  Above  we  said  of  these  works  that 


admitted  with  the  "  father  of  modern  exegesis  "  that  the  Bible  is  a 
book  of  the  nature  of  the  Iliad  or  the  Ilamayana. — That  in  reality 
Bossuet  was  the  master  for  nearly  a  century  of  orthodox  thought ; — 
in  consequence,  it  is  against  him  that  the  "philosophers"  will  soon 
direct  their  principal  efforts ; — and  for  this  reason  Voltaire  cannot  be 
understood  without  a  previous  acquaintance  with  Bossuet. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  works  of  Bossuet,  which  form  some  forty 
volumes  [in  the  Versailles  edition]  may  be  divided  into  Exegetical 
Works  ; — Works  of  Edification  and  Piety; — Controversial  and 
Polemical  Works ;  Works  composed  for  the  instruction  of  the 
Dauphin ; — and  Miscellaneous  Works. 

A.  His  Exegetical  Works  scarcely  come  within  our  scope,  as  they 
are  written  in  Latin ;— while  those  written  in  French, — such  as  his 
Explication  de  V Apocalypse,  1689  ;  and  his  two  Instructions  sur  la 
version  dti  Nouveau  Testament  imprime  a  Trevoux, — also  form  part, 
and  even  more  properly,  of  his  Controversial  Works. 

B.  His  Works  of  Edification  and  Piety,  not  including  his  Pastoral 
Works,  which  moreover  are  inconsiderable  in  number,  comprise :  his 
Oratorical  Works,  sermons,  panegyrics   and   funeral   orations ; — his 
Elevations  sur  les  mysteres,  his  Meditations  sur  VEvangile ; — and  his 
Lettres  de  direction. 

Of  these  works,  only  the  six  great  Oraisons  funebres,  1670,  1670, 
1683,  1685,  1686,  1687;  and  the  sermon,  I 'Unite  de  I'Eglise,  1682, 
appeared  during  Bossuet's  lifetime. 

The  Elevations  and  the  Meditations,  which  he  had  himself  intended 
to  have  printed,  did  not  appear  until  1727  and  1730-1731,  when  they 
were  published  by  his  nephew,  the  bishop  of  Troyes. 

The  Lettres  de  direction,  almost  all  of  which  are  addressed  to 
nuns,  and  of  which  the  most  important  are  the  Lettres  a  la  sceur 
Sainte-Benigne  [Mme  Cornuau]  and  the  Lettres  a  Mme  d' Albert  de 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF  FRENCH   LITERATURE     201 

they  were  natural  in  so  far  as  they  were  human;  we 
now  have  to  say  of  them  that  they  were  national  in 
so  far  as  they  were  universal,  and  universal  in  so  far 
as  they  were  national. 

From  these  characteristics  there  proceeds  or  results  a 
third,  which  explains  the  others  and  is  explained  by  them. 
It  consists  in  the  fact  that  while  all  these  works  are 
marked  by  a  desire  to  please,  they  are  animated  as  well 
by  the  ambition  to  instruct ;  they  are  didactic  or  moral 


Luynes,  were  published  the  former  in  1746  and  1748  and  the  latter 
in  1778. 

As  to  the  Sermons,  the  majority  of  which  exist  in  manuscript 
at  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  they  were  first  published  between 
1772  and  1778  by  Dom  Deforis.  They  were  revised  by  M.  Lachat 
for  his  edition  of  Bossuet's  works,  Paris,  1862,  etc.  Finally  and 
more  recently  they  were  again  revised  and  classified  for  the  first 
time  in  chronological  order  by  M.  1'abbe  Lebarq  for  his  edition  of 
Bossuet's  oratorical  works,  Paris,  6  vols.  in  8vo,  1890-1896 ;  Desclee 
and  de  Brouwer. 

C.  The   Works  composed  for  the  education   of  the  Dauphin,  or 
rather  in  connection  with  the  education  of   the  Dauphin,  are  :    (1) 
the  Discours  sur  Vhistoire  universelle,  published  by  Bossuet  himself 
in  1681 ; — (2)  the  Politique  tiree  des  propres  paroles  de  VEcriture 
Sainte,  published  by  his  nephew,  together  with  the  Lettre  au  pape 
Innocent  XI  sur  V education  du  Dauphin  [in  Latin],  1709; — (3)  the 
Traite  de  la  connaissance  de  Dieu  et  de  soi-meme,  published  for  the 
first  time  in  1722,  and  ascribed  to  Fenelon,  among  whose  papers  it 
had  been  discovered,  and  for  the  second,  under  the  name  of  its  real 
author,  in  1741 ; — and  (4)  the  Abrege  de  Vliistoire  de  France,  which 
appeared  for  the  first  time  in  1747. 

It  is  the  habit  to  put  in  this  class  the  Traite  du  libre  arbitre, 
published  by  the  bishop  of  Troyes  in  1731,  but  we  find  it  difficult 
to  believe  that  this  work  was  written  for  the  instruction  of  the 
Dauphin. 

D.  The    Controversial  Works  include  :  (1)  the  works   against  the 
Protestants,  of  which  the  principal  are :  the  Exposition  de  la  doctrine 
de  rEglise  catholique  en  matiere  de  controverse,  1671 ; — the  Confer- 
ence avec  M.  Claude,  1682 ; — the  Histoire  des  variations  des  eg/Uses 
protestanles,  1688 ; — the  six   Avertissements  aux  prottastants,  1689- 


202 

works  in  the  highest  and  the  widest  sense  of  each  of  the 
two  words.  It  is  only  natural  that  this  characteristic 
should  be  perceived  at  a  glance  in  a  sermon  of  Bossuet 
or  of  Bourdaloue,  in  a  chapter  of  Malebranche,  or  in 
a  satire  of  Boileau,  and  it  may  even  seem  somewhat  super- 
fluous to  call  attention  to  its  presence.  It  is  already  of 
greater  interest  to  meet  with  the  same  intention  in  the 
Maximes  of  La  Kochefoucauld  or  the  Fables  of  La  Fon- 
taine, who  of  all  these  great  writers  is  doubtless  the  most 

1691 ; — and  the  two  Instructions  sur  les  promesses  de  I'Eglise,  1700 
and  1701.  Hereto  must  be  added  the  series  of  dissertations  and 
letters,  written  with  a  view  to  reunite  the  Protestants  of  Germany  to 
the  Catholic  Church,  published  for  the  first  time  in  1753 ;  completed 
in  the  successive  editions  of  Bossuet's  works ;  and  by  M.  Foucher  de 
Careil,  in  the  two  first  volumes  of  his  edition,  left  unfinished,  of 
Leibnitz,  1867. 

2.  The  works  relating  to  Quietism,  of  which  the  principal  are : — 
Instruction  sur  les  etats  d'oraison,  1697  ; — -the  collection  entitled  : 
Divers  ecrits  stir  les  Maximes  des  saints,  1698 ; — and  the  Relation 
du  Quietisme,  1698. — Add  a  voluminous  Correspondence,  which  did 
not  appear  until  1788,  and  which  takes  up  three  entire  volumes  of 
the  Versailles  edition. 

3.  The  works  relating  to  the  Gallican  question,  almost  all  of  them 
in  Latin. 

4.  Finally,  the  works  relating  to  Eichard  Simon,  the  principal  of 
which  are :    the  Instructions  sur  la  nouvelle  version  du  Nouveau 
Testament  donnee  a  Tre'voux,  1702  and  1703  ; — and  the  Defense  de  la 
tradition  et  des  Saints  Peres,  which  appeared  in  1753. 

E.  A  last  class  may  be  formed  of  the  Miscellaneous  Writings  and 
Minor  Works  and  of  the  Correspondence  of  Bossuet.  We  shall 
confine  ourselves  to  citing  among  these  writings  : — the  Maximes  sur 
la  comedie,  1693 ; — the  Traite  de  la  concupiscence ; — the  Traite  du 
libre  arbitre,  1731  ; — the  Traite  de  Vusure,  1753  ; — and  a  considerable 
correspondence  [Cf.  H.  H.  Bourreaud,  Histoire  des  manuscrits  et  des 
editions  originates  de  Bossuet,  Paris,  1897]. 

The  best  editions  of  Bossuet  are  the  Versailles  edition  in  43  vols.  in 
8vo,  Versailles,  1815-1819,  printed  by  Lebel  ; — and  M.  Lachat's 
edition,  31  vols.  in  8vo,  Paris,  1862,  Vives. — Also  Abbe  Lebarq's 
edition  of  the  oratorical  works,  Paris,  1890-1896. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE     203 

irregular,  or  whom  indeed  there  is  perhaps  too  common  a 
disposition  at  the  present  day  to  regard  as  an  exception 
in  his  time.  As  he  was  well  aware  "  that  in  France  only 
what  pleases  is  esteemed,"  that  "  this  is  the  chief  and 
even  the  only  rule,"  he  was  careful  to  observe  this  neces- 
sary condition  !  Elsewhere,  however,  he  remarks  :  "  These 
triflings, — he  refers  to  his  Fables  and  not,  as  might  be 
imagined,  to  his  Contes, — these  triflings  are  such  in 
appearance  only,  for  at  bottom  they  have  a  very  sub- 

V.— Jean  Racine  [La  Ferte-Milon,  1639  ;  f  1699,  Paris.] 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — Racine's  Correspondence,  especially  that  with 
Boileau,  in  the  majority  of  editions  of    his  works ; — Louis   Racine, 
Memoires  sur  la  vie  de  son  pere,  1747  ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Port-Royal, 
book   vi.,   chap.    10  and   11  ; — Paul    Mesnard's   biographical    notice 
preceding  his  edition  of  the  works. 

Saint-Evremond,  Dissertation  sur  VAlexandre,  1670 ; — Longepierre, 
Parallele  de  Corneille  et  de  Racine,  in  Baillet's  Jugement  des  savants, 
edition  of  1722,  vol.  v.,  No.  1553  [the  article  was  written  in  1686] ; — 
La  Bruyere,  in  his  Caracteres,  1688 ; — Fontenelle,  Parallele  de 
Corneille  et  de  Racine,  1693 ; — Abbe  Granet,  Recueil  de  plusieurs 
dissertations  sur  les  tragedies  de  Corneille  et  de  Racine,  1740 ; — 
the  brothers  Parfaict,  Histoire  du  tliedtre  francais,  1734-1749,  vols. 
ix.,  x.,  xi.,  xil. ; — Stendhal,  Racine  et  Shakespeare,  1823  and  1825  : — 
A.  Vinet,  Les  poetes  franqais  du  siecle  de  Louis  XIV.,  Paris,  1861 ; — 
Sainte  -  Beuve,  Portraits  litteraires,  1830 ;  and  Nouveaux  lundis, 
vol.  iii.,  1862,  and  vol.  x.,  1866 ; — Taine,  Essais  de  critique  et  d'histoire, 
1858 ; — F.  Deltour,  Les  ennemis  de  Racine  au  XVIIe  siecle,  Paris, 
1859 ; — P.  Robert,  La  poetique  de  Racine,  Paris,  1890 ; — F.  Brune- 
tiere,  Histoire  et  litterature,  vol.  v. ;  Etudes  critiques,  vol.  i. ;  and 
Les  epoques  du  theatre  francais,  1893  ; — Jules  Lemaitre,  Impressions 
de  theatre,  1886-1896 ; — G.  Larroumet,  Racine,  in  the  "  Grands 
Ecrivains  franyais "  series,  1897. 

Marty-Laveaux,  Lexique  de  la  langue  de  Racine,  Paris,  1873,  in 
the  8th  volume  of  Mesnard's  edition. 

2.  RACINE'S  EARLIER  YEARS. — His  family. — Would  it  be  suspected 
that  he  came  from  the  same  part  of  France  as  La  Fontaine  ? — and  in 
this  connection  of  the  theory  of  environment. — His  education  at  Port- 
Royal, — and  that  he  was  the  only  one  or  almost  the  only  one  of  the 


204    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE 

stantial  meaning.  And  just  as  by  the  definition  of  a 
point,  a  line  and  a  surface,  and  by  other  very  familiar 
principles  we  become  acquainted  with  sciences  which 
enable  us  at  last  to  measure  heaven  and  earth,  so  by  the 
arguments  and  consequences  that  may  be  drawn  from 
these  Fables  the  judgment  and  character  are  formed,  and 
the  reader  is  rendered  capable  of  great  things."  Is  it 
necessary  that  I  should  point  out,  that  supposing  it  was 
never  the  design  of  Moliere  to  improve  or  "  purify " 


great  writers  of  his  time  who  had  a  thorough  knowledge  of  Greek  ; — 
a  knowledge  that  has  left  its  trace  upon  his  work,  into  the  composition 
of  which  there  enters,  let  it  be  noted  to  start  with,  at  least  as  much 
cleverness  and  "  virtuosity  "  as  genius. — His  precocious  taste  for 
novels ; — his  early  poems  ;  —  La  promenade  de  Port-Royal, — and, 
in  this  connection,  of  the  sentiment  of  nature  in  the  seventeenth 
century. — La  Nymphe  de  la  Seine,  1660  ; — Racine's  stay  at  Uzes ; — 
Les  Stances  a  Parthenice,  1661-1662  [Cf.  Voiture's  poem 

Je  me  rueurs  tous  les  jours  en  adorant  Sylvie  .  .  . 

Ubicini's  edition,  No.  9]  ; — the  Ode  sur  la  convalescence  du,  roi  and 
the  Renommee  aux  Muses. — None  of  these  poems  seemed  to  fore- 
shadow a  dramatic  poet ; — and  at  another  period  perhaps  Racine 
would  have  been  only  an  elegiac  poet ; — or  a  novelist. — A  compatriot 
and  one  of  the  youthful  friends  of  La  Fontaine,  to  whom  he  was 
related  [by  Mdlle  Hericart,  La  Fontaine's  wife]  he  might  even  have 
joined  the  ranks  of  the  Precieux  had  it  not  been  for  his  liking  for 
actors ; — for  the  gatherings  at  the  Mouton  blanc ; — -for  his  thirst  for 
fame,  which  at  the  time  the  drama  was  able  to  satisfy  more  com- 
pletely than  any  other  branch  of  literature  ; — for  the  facilities  offered 
him  by  his  friendship  with  Moliere ; — and  for  an  inner  warmth  of 
passion  or  genius,  which  could  not  rest  content  with  moderate 
emotions  [Cf.  Sainte-Beuve,  Port-Royal]. 

Racine's  two  first  tragedies  :  the  Thebatde,  1664, — and  Alexandre, 
1665  ; — they  procure  him  numerous  enemies ; — as  many  as  the  Cid 
had  formerly  procured  Corneille,  while  Comeille  himself  was  promi- 
nent among  them. — Racine's  enemies  are  also  those  of  Boileau  and 
Moliere. — In  spite  of  Racine  leaving  Moliere's  theatre  for  the  Hotel 
de  Bourgogne,  and  of  Corneille  passing  from  the  Hotel  de 
Bourgogne  to  Moliere's  theatre,  the  situation  remained  the  same. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     205 

morals,  at  any  rate  his  Tartuffe,  his  Misanthrope,  or  his 
Femmes  savantes  are  there  to  show  that  it  was  certainly 
his  purpose  to  "modify"  or  to  "mould"  them?  In  a 
word,  it  may  be  said  that  no  great  writer  of  this  period 
separated  the  idea  of  art  from  that  of  a  certain  social 
function  or  purpose.  Far  from  affecting  contempt  for 
the  vulgar  after  the  manner  of  the  Precieux  and  the 
great  writers  of  the  preceding  age,  far  from  taking  up 
_  their  cry : 


—  Eacine's  estrangement  from  the  leaders  of  Port-Royal ;  —  and 
that  in  writing  his  Lettre  a  Vauteur  des  Visionnaires,  1666, 
he  seems  publicly  to  take  the  defence  of  the  Tartuffe  party 
against  them  [Cf.,  in  the  second  letter,  the  passage  referring  to 
Tartuffe,  which  would  have  left  little  doubt  on  the  matter  if  the 
letter  had  been  printed]. — How  the  conflict  came  to  lie  between  two 
dramatic  schools  or  systems  [Cf.  d'Aubignac,  La  pratique  du  theatre, 
1657]  ; — and  how  the  coinciding  of  the  success  of  Andromaque,  1667 
with  the  failure  of  Attila  heightens  the  antagonism. — Britannicus, 
1670,  and  the  criticisms  of  Robinet,  Boursault,  and  Saint- Evremond 
[Cf.  his  letter  to  M.  de  Lionne]. — Madame,  duchesse  d'Orleans  brings 
the  rivalry  of  the  two  poets  to  a  pitch,  by  pitting  them  against  one 
another  on  the  subject  of  Berenice  ; — and,  hi  this  connection,  of  the 
cruelty  that  marked  her  thoughtlessness  ; — and  how  fortunate  it  is 
for  this  frivolous  and  perfidious  Henriette  that  she  is  defended  by 
her  funeral  oration. — The  preface  to  Berenice,  1670 ; — and  how  the 
radical  antagonism  of  the  two  poetical  systems  is  at  last  brought 
clearly  into  view  hi  it. 

3.  RACINE'S  POETICAL  SYSTEM. 

A.  The  theory  of  invention. — Corneille  Had  declared  hi  the  preface 
to  his  Heraclius  [edit.  Marty-Laveaux,  vol.  v.,  p.  147]  :  "  I  shall  not 
hesitate  to  assert  that  the  subject  of  a  fine  tragedy  ought  not  to  be 
probable  "  ; — and  Racine  replies  to  him  :  "  Only  what  is  probable  is 
effective  in  tragedy  "  [edit.  Mesnard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  147]. — Consequences  of 
this  principle. — (1)  The  exceptional,  extraordinary,  and  "  complex  " 
action  found  hi  Corneille's  plays  is  replaced  by  a  simple  action,  "  but 
little  burdened  with  matter,"  and  turning  upon  everyday  experiences, 
[Cf.  the  Cid,  Heraclius,  Rodogune,  or  Horace,  on  the  one  hand,  and~^ 
on  the  other  Andromaque,  Britannicus,  Berenice,  Bajazef]. — Few 
men  have  found  themselves  in  the  situation  of  Horace  or  of  Rodogune, 


MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

Nothing  is  to  my  taste,  except  what  is  likely  to  offend 
The  judgment  of  the  rude  populace  ; 

they  endeavoured,  as  is  admirably  explained  by  La 
Fontaine,  to  raise  this  "  populace  "  to  their  own  level. 
They  wrote  for  "  everybody  "  ;  and  there  has  never  been 
a  doctrine  more  widely  removed  than  theirs  from  what 
has  since  been  termed  the  paradox  of  art  for  art  —  in 
whichever  of  its  several  senses  the  expression  be  taken. 


— but  many  women  have  known  what  it  is  to  undergo  experiences 
such  as  those  of  Hermione  or  Berenice,  invitus  invitam. — A  still 
more  decisive  comparison  is  that  between  Andromaque  and  Pertharite, 
where  the  subject  is  the  same  ; — or  between  Bajazet  and  Floridon 
[Cf.  Segrais,  Les  divertissements  de  la  princesse  Aurelie]. — (2)  The 
imitation  of  living  reality  takes  the  place  of  romantic  combinations. 
— Fontenelle's  remark  on  the  characters  of  Racine's  personages, 
"  which,"  he  says,  "  are  only  true  to  nature  because  they  are  common- 
place "  ; — and  it  would  be  impossible  to  praise  Racine  more  highly  than 
in  this  remark  intended  as  a  criticism. — Racine's  heroes  resemble  our- 
selves ; — his  invention  is  bolder  than  Corneille's  in  the  measure  in 
which  his  subjects  are  more  commonplace ; — more  hi  touch  with 
ourselves  ; — more  akin  to  what  goes  on  around  us  every  day. — Of  a 
mistake  of  Taine  on  this  point  [Cf.  Essais  de  critique  et  d'histoire] 
— and  that  of  the  two,  Corneille  and  Racine,  it  is  assuredly  Corneille 
who  is  the  "  Precieux." — (3)  The  very  subject  matter  with  which  the 
invention  deals  is  regarded  from  a  different  point  of  view. — The  object 
is  no  longer  to  supplement  reality,  to  embellish  it,  to  arrange  it  in 
accordance  with  "  the  grand  gout "  ; — but  to  have  a  better  insight 
into  it  and  to  give  it  better  expression. — Racine's  singular  predilec- 
tion for  subjects  already  dealt  with  [Cf.  Les  Epoques  du  theatre 
francais]  ; — and  how  he  finds  scope  for  his  inventive  faculty  in 
treating  such  subjects. — Moliere  and  La  Fontaine  regarded  invention 
in  the  same  light ; — and  this  is  Fontenelle's  grievance  against  them, 
when,  as  he  says  of  Racine,  he  declares  that  they  are  "  low  by  dint 
of  being  natural." 

B.  Of  the  psychology  and  art  of  Racine ; — and  hi  the  first  place 
that  they  are  inseparable ; — as  are  Corneille's  "  dramatic  system  " 
and  the  "  quality  of  his  imagination." — Racine's  principal  concern 
is  the  depiction  of  character  [Cf.  Moliere  in  the  Critique  de  VEcole 


THE    NATIONALIZATION   OF   FKENCH   LITERATURE     207 

The  question,  too,  has  been  raised  whether  "  the  most 
significant  characteristics  attaching  to  the  glory  of  the 
seventeenth  century  are  not  the  result  of  the  general 
march  of  civilisation,  rather  than  of  the  influence  and 
destinies  of  France  "  ?  The  question  was  assuredly  worth 
putting.  Moreover,  if  the  answer  made  to  it  be — and 
such  was  the  answer  of  the  writer  who  mooted  the 
question  [Cournot,  Considerations  sur  la  marche  des  idees 
dans  les  temps  modernes,  vol.  i.,  Paris,  1872]  — that  "  it 

dts  femrnes,  and  Boileau,  Epitre  a  Seignelay]. — Unprecedented  im- 
portance given  in  his  tragedy  to  the  passion  of  love ; — as  being  the 
most  "common"  or  the  most  general  of  all; — as  being  the  most 
"  natural,"  and  perhaps  the  most  tragic  [Cf.  Aristotle's  remark  on 
Euripides,  whom  he  terms  rpayucwraroc]  ; — and  finally  as  being  the 
passion  which,  while  it  remains  identical  in  its  essence,  best  displays 
the  diversity  of  men's  characters. — It  is  a  fact  that  there  are  fewer 
ways  of  being  "  avaricious  "  than  there  are  of  being  "  in  love  "  ; — 
the  love  of  Hermione  is  different  from  that  of  Berenice,  and  the  love 
of  Iphigenie  from  that  of  Phedre  ; — while  the  love  of  Neron  is  no  less 
different  from  that  of  Titus,  and  the  love  of  Achilles  from  that  of 
Xiphares. — Voltaire's  mistake  on  this  point  [Cf.  his  Temple  dugout]. 
— How  a  new  dramatic  system  arises  out  of  this  diversity  in  the 
depiction  of  character, — a  system  based,  as  was  clearly  seen  by 
Saint-Evremond  [Cf.  his  Dissertation  sur  V  Alexandre],  on  the 
subordination  of  the  situations  to  the  characters. — Comparison,  in 
this  connection,  between  Rodogune  and  Berenice.  How  all  the 
points  just  enumerated  are  mutually  interdependent, — and  turn  upon 
the  principle  of  probability. — Observations  on  this  head  ; — and  that 
there  are  entire  schools  that  have  based  art  upon  "  the  exaggera- 
tion of  the  real  relations  between  things." 

C.  Racine's  style ; — and  (1)  that  it,  too,  obeys  the  law  involved  in 
the  principle  of  probability, — as  regards  its  degree  of  naturalness, — 
and,  in  this  connection,  of  a  remark  of  Sainte-Beuve  :  "  Racine's  style," 
he  has  said,  "  borders,  as  a  rule,  on  prose,  except  as  regards  the 
invariable  elegance  of  its  form." — Accuracy  and  fruitfulness  of  this 
observation. — The  truth  is  there  is  no  prose  more  simple, — it  might 
almost  be  said  more  bare  than  that  of  Racine  [Cf.  his  Abrege  de 
rhistoire  de  Port-Royal]  ; — and  in  his  plays  it  is  to  this  same  prose 
that  the  passion  of  his  character  imparts  colour,  variety,  animation, 


208    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

was  the  privilege  of  the  France  of  Louis  XIV.  to  be  so 
situated,  that  its  own  movement  took  the  direction  of  the 
movement  of  Europe  in  general  .  .  .  in  such  sort  as  to 
make  it  the  interpreter  or  the  vehicle  of  the  current  ideas 
of  the  epoch,"  if  this  be  the  answer  given  the  question, 
a  vivid  light  will  certainly  have  been  thrown  on  a 
period  of  the  history  of  our  literature,  and  more  par- 
ticularly a  good  deal  will  have  been  done  to  explain  the 
rapidity  of  its  propagation.  At  the  same  time,  how  it 


warmth,  and  fire. — (2)  That  the  simplicity  of  Racine's  style  makes 
it  an  incomparable  vehicle  for  psychological  analysis ; — and  in  con- 
sequence for  complex  sentiments,  which  it  expresses  in  the  most 
usual  words : 

I  loved  even  the  tears  I  made  her  shed  [Burr.]. 

Take  care  of  her,  my  hatred  demands  that  she  should  live  [BAJ.] . 

That  this  mode  of  writing  is  exactly  the  contrary  of  that  of  the 
Precieux ; — who  express  very  simple  things  in  a  very  complicated 
manner. — (3)  Further,  that  this  simplicity  is  not  prejudicial  to  the 
elegance  and  still  less  to  the  boldness  of  Racine's  style ; — and  that 
Racine  is  one  of  the  most  daring  writers  in  existence  ; — his  associa- 
tions of  words  ; — his  ideas  conveyed  by  masterly  touches  [Cf.  P. 
Mesnard,  Etude  sur  le  style  de  Racine], — Other  qualities  of  Racine's 
style; — harmoniousness,  life,  colour,  plasticity  [Cf.  Epoquesdu  theatre 
francais]  ; — and  that  the  pains  he  is  at  to  conceal  them  again  leads 
us  back,  to  finish  with,  to  the  principle  of  probability. 

4.  THE  SECOND  PAET  OF  RACINE'S  LIFE. — Vexations  caused  him  by  his 
Mithridate,  1675  ; — his  IpJiigenie,  1675  ; — and  finally  by  Phedre,  1677 
[Cf.  Deltour,  Les  Ennemis  de  Racine  and  Amedee  Renee,  Les  Nieces 
de  Mazariri] . — The  two  Phedre. — Whether  the  very  daring  of  Racine's 
tragedies  was  not  one  of  the  causes  of  the  implacable  animosity  of  his 
enemies  ? — People  refused  to  admit  the  truth  of  his  depictions  of  love ; — 
and  because  they  were  too  "  true  "  they  were  held  to  be  "  excessive." — 
A  remark  of  Subligny  :  "  I  should  consider  M.  Racine  very  dangerous 
if  he  had  made  this  hateful  criminal  (Phedre)  as  pleasing,  and  as  much 
to  be  pitied,  as  he  desired  to  do." — That  sufficient  stress  has  not  been 
laid  on  this  feature  of  Racine's  tragedies  ; — and  yet  he  was  thoroughly 
alive  to  it  himself ; — that  in  asking  Arnauld  to  accord  Phedre  his 
approbation,  what  he  really  demanded  was  an  "absolution"; — and 


THE   NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     209 

was  that  France  came  by  this  "prerogative  "  would  still 
remain  to  be  accounted  for ;  and,  without  entering  on 
this  somewhat  long  inquiry,  may  it  not  be  held  that  the 
character  of  our  literature,  that  of  French  civilisation  of 
the  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  lastly  the  influence  of 
Louis  XIV.  himself  are,  even  in  this  connection,  effects 
rather  than  causes?  Can  it  be  said  that  the  ideas  of 
Pascal  or  those  of  Bossuet,  for  example,  were  "  in 
the  direction  of  the  movement  of  Europe  in  general"? 

that  having  obtained  it,  it  did  not  satisfy  him.  —  Voisin's  evidence 
in  the  affair  of  the  Poisons  [Cf.  Ravaisson,  Archives  de  la  Bastille, 
vi,  51]. — The  innermost  cause  of  Racine's  conversion  was  his  abhor- 
rence of  his  own  writings ; — and  it  is  for  this  reason  that,  having 
once  turned  his  back  upon  the  stage,  he  even  ceased  to  concern  him- 
self with  the  new  editions  of  his  plays ; — and  that  he  devoted  him- 
self entirely  to  his  historical  studies,  and  to  his  family. 

His  genius,  however,  far  from  waning  after  he  had  thus  sought 
retirement,  gathered  strength  as  its  inspiration  grew  purer. — His 
Esther,  1689,  is  sufficient  to  prove  this  ; — and  his  Athalie,  1691. — The 
conditions  under  which  these  two  plays  were  written. — It  is  note- 
worthy that  in  choosing  the  subject  of  Esther,  Racine  resorted  to 
a  subject  that  had  already  been  treated  six  times  by  previous  French 
dramatists. — Success  of  Esther  at  Saint-Cyr, — and  the  vexation,  in 
consequence  of  Racine's  enemies. — The  changing  opinions  of  Mine  de 
Sevigne  [Cf.  the  letters  dated  1690]. — Disdainful  criticisms  of  Mine  de 
La  Fayette  [Memoires]. — Athalie,  1691. — The  criticisms  redouble, — 
and  Racine  is  more  dissatisfied  than  ever. — In  accordance  with  the 
opinion  of  Boileau  and  Voltaire,  should  Athalie  be  esteemed  Racine's 
"  finest  work  "  ? — Racine's  last  years. — Racine  as  an  historiographer 
and  as  a  courtier. — His  intervention  in  the  quarrel  over  the  ancients 
and  moderns. — His  indifference  to  his  own  works  [Cf.  the  letter  to 
Boileau,  dated  April  4,  1696].  "  For  a  long  time  past  God  has 
graciously  permitted  that  the  good  or  evil  that  may  be  said  of  my 
tragedies  scarcely  moves  me,  and  I  am  only  troubled  by  the  account 
of  them  I  shall  one  day  have  to  render  Him." — He  enters  into  closer 
relations  with  the  Port-Royal ;  and  it  is  doubtless  for  this  reason  that 
he  forfeits  the  king's  favour  [Cf.  Louis  Racine,  Memoires  sur  la  vie  de 
sonpere]. — His  death,  April  21,  1699. 

5.  THE  WOBKS. — It  may  properly  be  said  of  the  works  of  Racine 

15 


210     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Would  not  the  statement  apply  rather  to  the  ideas  of 
Locke  or  Grotius  ?  Besides,  what  would  be  the  explana- 
tion of  the  resistance,  of  the  opposition  encountered  in 
France  itself  by  Moliere,  Boileau,  Eacine  and  their 
fellows, — opposition  over  which,  I  repeat,  they  would 
not  have  triumphed  but  for  the  personal  intervention 
of  Louis  XIV.  ?  But  it  is  especially  necessary  to 
remark  that  the  "  century  of  Louis  XIV."  scarcely 
lasted  for  more  than  twenty-five  years,  which  is  short 


that  apart  from  his  youthful  poems  and  a  few  epigrams ; — all, 
or  almost  all  of  which  are  extremely  biting  and  malicious  ; — they 
are  confined  to  his  eleven  tragedies  and  to  his  comedy,  Les 
Plaideurs. 

The  principal  editions  are : — the  edition  of  1697,  Paris,  Barbin, 
which  it  is  in  nowise  certain  was  revised  by  Racine  himself  ;  the  edition 
of  1743,  Amsterdam,  J.  L.  Bernard,  with  Abbe  d'Olivet's  observations  ; 
the  edition  of  1807,  7  vols.  in  8vo,  with  Laharpe's  commentary,  Paris, 
Agasse ; — the  edition  of  1808,  also  in  7  vols.,  with  Geoffroy's  com- 
mentary, Paris,  Lenormand  ; — Aime  Martin's  series  of  editions,  1820, 
1822,  1825,  1844,  Lefevre ; — P.  Mesnard's  edition  in  the  "  Grands 
Ecrivains  de  France  "  series,  Paris,  1865-1873,  Hachette. 

VI.— Louis  Bourdaloue  [Bourges,  1632;  f  1704,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Mine  de  Pringy,  Eloge  du  P.  Bourdaloue  in  the 
Mercure  galant,  June,  1704 ; — Abbe  Lambert,  Histoire  litteraire  du 
regne  de  Louis  XIV.,  1751,  vol.  i. ; — Maury,  Essai  sur  r eloquence- de 
la  chaire,  1777. 

Vinet,  Bourdaloue  in  the  Semeur,  1843,  and  in  his  Melanges ; — 
Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  ix. ; — J.  J.  Weiss,  Bourdaloue 
in  the  Revue  des  cours  litteraires,  September,  1866 ; — Abbe  Hurel, 
Les  predicateurs  sacres  a  la  cour  de  Louis  XIV.,  Paris,  1872; — A. 
Feugere,  Bourdaloue,  sa  predication  et  son  temps,  Paris,  1874 ; — 
Father  Lauras,  S.J.,  Bourdaloue,  sa  vie  et  ses  ceuvres,  Paris,  1881 ; 
— Abbe  Blampignon,  Etude  sur  Bourdaloue  preceding  his  Clioix  de 
Sermons  du  P.  Bourdaloue,  Paris,  1886 ; — H.  Cherot,  S.J.,  Bour- 
daloue inconnu,  in  Etudes  Religieuses,  Paris,  1898. 

Louis  Veuillot,  Moliere  et  Bourdaloue. 

2.  THE  ORATOR. — Absence  of  information  respecting  his  early  years  ; 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FKENCH   LITEEATUKE     211 

measure  for  a  century,  if  only  the  number  of  years 
be  considered,  but  the  period  will  seem  longer  when 
it  is  borne  in  mind  that  there  was  not  one  of  these 
twenty-five  years  that  was  not  rendered  illustrious  by  the 
appearance  of  a  masterpiece.  We  have  no  sooner  climbed 
one  side  of  the  hill,  than  we  have  to  descend  the  other  ; 
and  why  should  we  complain  of  this  necessity,  if  life  and 
movement  be  one  and  the  same  thing? 

The  truth  is,  the  Treaty  of  Nimeguen  in  1678,  which 


— and  absolute  uneventfulness  of  his  life ; — sincerity  of  his  vocation  ;-  - 
simplicity  of  his  existence  ; — and  unity  of  his  work. — His  first  appear- 
ance in  the  Paris  pulpits,  1669  ; — and  as  to  Voltaire's  remark  that 
"  Bossuet  ceased  to  be  accounted  the  first  among  the  preachers  from 
the  moment  that  Bourdaloue  appeared." — Bourdaloue  at  court ; — the 
Advents  of  1670,  '84,  '86,  '89,  '91,  '93,  '97  and  the  Lents  of  1672,  '74, 
'76,  '80,  '82,  '95. — Bourdaloue's  prodigious  success  [Cf.  the  letters  of 
Mine  de  Sevigne  passim  and  the  Journal  de  Dangeau]. — Should 
this  success  be  attributed  to  the  exclusively  moral  and  seldom 
dogmatic  character  of  his  preaching  ? — Nisard's  exaggeration  on  this 
point. — Does  the  cause  of  Bourdaloue's  success  lie  in  the  "  portraits  " 
or  "  allusions  "  his  sermons  may  contain  ? — Difficulty  of  answering 
this  question. — We  do  not  possess  the  sermons  Bourdaloue  really 
delivered  ; — but  his  sermons  touched  up,  recast,  and  several  of  them 
amalgamated  into  one. — The  "  portraits  "  of  Pascal,  in  the  Sermon 
sur  la  medisance ; — and  of  Arnauld,  in  the  Sermon  sur  le  severite 
chretienne  ; — and  are  they  really  "  portraits  "  '?  Bourdaloue's  "  out- 
spokenness " — and  that  it  does  not  seem  to  have  surpassed  the 
degree  of  outspokenness  customary  at  the  time  in  the  pulpit. — The 
explanation  of  Bourdaloue's  success  must  be  sought  elsewhere  ; — and 
is  easily  found : 

A.  In  tJie  richness  of  his  oratorical  invention. — Diversity  of  the 
plans  of  Bourdaloue's  sermons,  and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  four 
sermons  for  All-Saints  Day, — or  of  the  three  sermons  :  sur  la  Crainte 
de  la  Mort, — sur  la  Preparation  a  la  Mort, — sur  la  Pensee  de  la 
Mort. — Peculiar  beauty  of  this  last  sermon. — Severity  of  Bourdaloue's 
method ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  Fenelon's  paradox  in  his 
Dialogues  sur  V eloquence. — That  it  is  as  puerile  to  find  fault  with  a 
sermon  because  it  is  divided  as  a  rule  into  three  parts,  as  to  take 
objection  to  a  tragedy  because  it  is  in  five  acts  ; — that  Bourdaloue, 


212     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

seems  to  mark  the  zenith  of  the  power  of  Louis  XIV., 
marks  in  reality  the  beginning  of  its  decline.  The 
gallantry  of  the  opening  of  the  reign  had  degenerated 
into  a  public  scandal,  against  which  the  preachers  had 
inveighed  in  vain  from  the  pulpit  !  Louis  XIV.  had 
persisted  in  preferring  the  teaching  of  Moliere  to  that  of 
Bourdaloue  : 

Un  partage  avec  Jupiter 

N'a  rien  du  tout  qui  deshonore  .  .  . 


moreover,  was  of  opinion,  that  it  is  unseemly  to  seek  to  pose  as  a 
"  wit  "  in  the  pulpit ; — and  that  it  is  impossible  to  go  too  far  in 
the  matter  of  subdividing,  distinguishing,  and  insisting,  when  the 
orator's  chief  preoccupation  is,  as  was  his  case,  to  instruct  and  to 
"moralise." — The  transitions  in  Bourdaloue's  sermons; — and,  more 
generally,  of  the  importance  of  transitions  in  the  art  of  oratory ; — as 
serving  as  a  "means  of  intercommunication"  between  the  ideas 
expounded  ; — to  establish  their  natural  gradation ; — and  as  a  means 
of  passing  from  them  to  kindred  ideas. — Of  the  superlative  and  in 
particular  of  the  sustained  clearness, — which  these  qualities  lend 
Bourdaloue's  sermons ; — and  the  primary  cause  of  his  success  must 
be  attributed  to  this  characteristic. — Another  cause  lies : 

B.  In   the  practical   character  of  his  preaching. — Bourdaloue's 
sermons  are  of  the  class  in  which  precise  rules  of  conduct  abound. 
— [Cf.  the  sermons  sur  les  Devoirs  des  peres, — sur  le  Soin  des  domes- 
tiques, — sur  les  Divertissements  du  monde, — sur  la  EestitutionJ] — He 
is  not  content  with  setting  forth  what  people  should  not  do  ; — but  he 
points  out  what  they  ought  to  do  ; — his  instructions  are  concrete  and 
his  advice  is  definite. — The  way  in  which  Bourdaloue  goes  for  his 
inspiration   to   current   events    [Cf.   the   sermon  sur   Vlmpurete], — 
Contemporary  polemics  in  Bourdaloue's  sermons  [Cf.  the  sermons 
sur  le  Severite  chretienne,  directed  against  Jansenism; — sur  UObeis- 
sance  due  a  l'Eglise,ag&insi  Gallicanism  ; — sur  VHypocrisie,  against 
Moliere  and  Tartuffe]. — A  last  cause  of  Bourdaloue's  success  lies  : 

C.  In  the  nature  of  his  eloquence  and  of  his  style. — Bourdaloue  is 
the  French  preacher  whose  eloquence  is  most  sustained. — By  which  is 
meant : — that  he  throws  an  equal  light  upon  every  part  of  his  subject ; 
— that  the  ordinary  flow  of  his  eloquence  is  ample  rather  than  varied ; — 
and  that  he  seldom  makes  points  or  indulges  in  passages  of  exceptional 
brilliance. — Simplicity   of    Bourdaloue's    style. — His   disdain  for   all 


THE   NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     213 

Excess  of  power  or  its  intoxication,  now  induce  him  to 
engage  in  enterprises  that  are  beyond  his  strength.  His 
haughtiness  and  self-sufficiency,  untempered  henceforth 
by  the  least  familiarity,  and  congealed,  as  it  were, 
in  a  perpetually  solemn  attitude ;  his  abuses  of  power ; 
his  "charnbres  de  reunion,"  his  great  quarrel  with 
the  Court  of  Koine,  and  the  repeal  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes;  his  intervention  in  English  affairs  and  the 
brutal  and  despotic  policy  of  Louvois; — all  these  things 


rhetoric, — and  whether  he  did  not  go  to  extremes  in  this  direction? — 
That  the  manner  of  the  man  who  has  been  rightly  called  "  the  living 
refutation  of  the  Provinciates,"  is  the  most  Jansenist  there  is  ; — after 
that  of  Nicole ; — and  that  this  very  manner  stood  him  in  good  stead  at 
the  time. — That  it  is  too  exact  or  too  reasonable  a  manner  for  the 
taste  of  the  present  day ; — but  we  must  not  on  this  account  be  blind  to 
the  subtletj-, — the  depth, — and  the  breadth  of  his  psychology. — Com- 
parison, in  this  connection,  between  Nicole's  Essais  and  Bourdaloue's 
Sermons. — Mine  de  Sevigne's  equal  admiration  for  both. — That  all 
these  reasons  for  Bourdaloue's  success  as  a  preacher  of  sermons, 
explain  his  inferiority  when  he  essays  funeral  orations,  panegyrics,  or 
when  he  preaches  upon  the  mysteries  of  religion. 

On  the  other  hand  and  for  the  same  reasons, — Bourdaloue  is  the 
real  master  among  Frenchmen  of  the  art  of  handling  a  subject 
oratorically ; — admitting  him  to  have  had  no  superior  in  the  art  of 
setting  forth,  subdividing,  and  arranging  a  subject ; — of  treating  it 
according  to  its  nature ; — and  of  refraining  from  introducing  into  it 
any  extraneous  or  superfluous  matter. — This  absolute  sincerity  does 
no  less  honour  to  his  character  than  to  his  talent, — or  rather  his 
talent  and  his  character  form  an  inseparable  whole. — The  appreciation 
he  received  at  the  hands  of  his  contemporaries  [Cf.  Lauras,  S.J., 
Bourdaloue,  sa  vie  et  ses  oeuvres\; — of  all  those  who  discussed  him; 
— both  Catholics  and  Protestants. 

3.  THE  WOEKS. — Bourdaloue's  works  are  confined  to  his  sermons ; 
to  fragments  of  his  sermons,  collected  by  his  editors  under  the  title  of 
Pensees  ; — and  of  a  very  small  number  of  letters. 

The  original  edition  of  the  sermons  or  works  of  Bourdaloue,  certainly 
prepared  in  part  by  himself,  but  issued  by  his  colleague,  Father  Breton- 
neau,  appeared  from  1707  to  1734,  Rigaud,  director  of  the  Royal 
Printing  Works,  being  the  publisher.  It  comprises : — for  the  Advent 


214     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOKY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

estrange,  alarm,  and  irritate  the  opinion,  and  turn 
against  him  the  arms  of  the  whole  of  Europe.  In- 
fatuated, too,  as  he  is  with  his  own  parts,  he  chooses 
the  moment  when  he  has  no  longer  a  Colbert  to 
administer  his  finances,  a  Turenne,  a  Conde  or  a 
Luxembourg  to  lead  his  armies,  a  Lionne  or  a  Pomponne 
to  inspire  his  diplomacy,  he  chooses  this  moment  to 
embark  rashly  on  the  war,  which  is  destined  to  end  in 
the  fatal  treaty  of  Utrecht. 


sermons,  one  volume,  1707  ; — Lenten  sermons,  three  volumes,  1707  ; 
Mysteres,  two  volumes,  1709 ; — Sermons  de  veture,  Panegyriques, 
Oraisons  funebres,  two  volumes,  1711 ; — Domincales,  three  volumes, 
1716; — and  finally  Instructions  chretiennes,  Exhortations  de  retraite 
or  Pensees  diverses,  five  volumes,  1721-1734. 

The  best  modern  editions  are : — the  edition  of  1822-1826,  Paris ; — 
and  Guerin's  edition,  1864,  Bar-le-Duc. 

VII.— Nicolas  Boileau-Despreaux  [Paris,  1636 ;  f  1711,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES.' — Desmaizeaux,  Le  vie  de  M.Despreaux:  Amster- 
dam, 1712 ; — Louis  Racine,  Memoires  sur  la  vie  de  son  pere,  1747 ; 
this  work  is  printed  too  in  a  number  of  editions  of  Racine ; — Cizeron 
Rival,  Lettres  familieres  de  MM.  Boileau-Despreaux  .et  Brossette, 
Lyons,    1770 ; — d'Alembert,   Eloge    de  Despreaux,  in   his   collected 
Eloges   academiques,    Paris,    1779 ; — Berriat    Saint- Prix,    Essai  sur 
Boileau,  Paris,  1830. 

Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  litteraires,  vol.  i. ; — Port-Royal,  bk.  vi., 
ch.  vii. ;  and  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  vi. ; — Philarete  Chasles,  Les 
Victimes  de  Boileau,  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  June  and 
August,  1839 ; — F.  Brunetiere,  article  BOILEAU  in  the  Grande  Ency- 
clopedic, 1887;  notice  preceding  the  (Euvres  poetiques  de  Boileau; 
1889;  and  Devolution  des  genres,  vol.  i.,  1890; — P.  Morillot,  Boileau 
in  the  "  Classiques  populaires  "  series,  1891 ; — Lanson,  Boileau  in  the 
"  Grands  Ecrivains  francais  "  series,  1892. 

Delaporte,  S.  J.,  L'art  poetique  de  Boileau  commente  par  sea  con- 
temporains,  Lille,  1888. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — Boilieau's  birth  and  early  years ; — 
the  legal  profession  in  1640 ; — Boileau's  "  theological  studies  "  ; — his 

1  Consult,  too,  the  biographical  notices  printed  at  the  beginning  of  the  first 
volume  of  Berriat  Saint-Prix'  edition,  Paris,  1830,  Langlois  and  Delaunay. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     215 

Simultaneously  the  situation  becomes  gloomy  at  home. 
The  tragic  and  scandalous  affair  of  the  poisons  suddenly 
lays  bare  unfathomable  depths  of  ignominy  [Cf .  Eavaisson, 
Archives  de  la  Bastille,  vols.  iv.,  v.,  vi.,  vii.,  Paris,  1870- 
1875J .  While  the  immense  majority  of  Frenchmen  unhap- 
pily regard  with  approval  the  repeal  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
commerce  and  industry  are  sapped  and  the  foundations  of 
public  morality  are  shaken  by  this  wholesale  expulsion  of 
the  Protestants.  The  character  of  the  court  itself  under- 


legal  studies ; — his  early  writings ; — the  writing  of  the  first  Satires, 
1660,  1661 ; — the  Stances  pour  VEcole  des  femmes,  1662. — Boileau's 
friendship  with  Moliere,  La  Fontaine  and  Racine. — The  Mouton  blanc 
tavern  once  more  ! — The  Dissertation  sur  Joconde. — Readings  of  the 
Satires  in  society. — The  collection  printed  hi  Holland,  1665. — Boileau 
decides  to  print  his  writings,  1666. — Emotion  caused  by  the  first 
Satires  [I.,  VI.,  VII.,  II.,  IV.,  III.,  V.]— particularly  in  the  "  precious 
society." — Cotin  replies  to  them:  La  satijre  des  satyres,  1666, — also 
Boursault,  1669. — Their  scurrilous  violence. — Boileau's  courage  and 
perseverance. — The  Discours  sur  la,  Satire,  1668. — Coalition  of  Boi- 
leau's enemies. — Chapelain  and  Perrault  prevent  his  being  inscribed 
on  "  the  list  of  the  King's  bounties," — and  endeavour  to  prevent  his 
obtaining  the  authorisation  to  print  his  works ; — while  M.  de  Mon- 
tausier  threatens  him  with  personal  violence. — The  Epitre  au  Boi ; — 
Boileau  has  it  presented  the  King  by  Mme  de  Montespan ; — and,  in 
this  connection,  of  the  services  rendered  men  of  letters  by  Mme  de 
Montespan, — services  which  explain,  though  they  do  not  excuse,  the 
flatten-  bestowed  on  her  by  all  or  almost  all  contemporary  men  of 
letters. — Could  they  be  more  prudish  than  Vivonne,  the  lady's 
brother? — and  living  as  they  did  [Cf.  Mine  de  Sevigne's  letters, 
1671] ; — are  we  to  accuse  them  of  baseness '? — Publication  of  the 
first  Epitres ; — of  the  Art  poetiquc ;  and  of  the  first  cantos  of  the 
Lutrin,  1674. — Boileau  figures  for  the  first  time  on  the  "  list  of  the 
King's  bounties  "  in  1676 ; — he  is  appointed  "  to  write  the  history  of 
the  King,"  1677  ; — and  he  renounces  "  the  profession  of  poetry." 

A.  Boileau  as  a  Critic. — The  great  merit  of  Boileau's  criticism 
is : — that  it  turned  away  the  reading  public  from  the  Chapelains  and 
Scarrons ; — that  it  may  almost  be  said  to  have  revealed  Moliere  [Cf . 
the  Stances  sur  VEcole  des  femmes] ; — La  Fontaine  [Cf.  the  Disser- 
tation sur  Joconde~\  ; — Racine  [Cf.  the  Dialogue  sur  les  Jieros  de 


216     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OP   FRENCH    LITERATURE 

goes  a  change.  La  Valliere  expiates  her  passion  in  the 
austere  seclusion  of  a  cloister;  Fontanges  is  dead, 
"  stricken  in  the  king's  service " ;  Mme  de  Montespan 
has  had  to  retire  from  court ;  and  in  their  stead  reigns 
Mme  de  Maintenon,  who  occupies  an  ill-defined  situation, 
partaking  at  once  of  that  of  a  mistress,  a  housekeeper, 
and  a  governess.  "  Such  is  the  state  in  which  things 
were  in  1690,  an  eyewitness  tells  us,  Ezechiel  Spanheim, 
the  Brandenburg  envoy,  and  in  which  they  still  are  so 


roman\. — He  revealed  these  writers  to  themselves  as  well  as  to  the 
public  ; — and  enforced  admiration  for  them. — The  hatreds  naturally 
engendered  by  this  manner  of  conceiving  satire ; — and  how  Boileau 
held  his  own  against  them ; — without  any  protection  except  his 
honesty  [Cf.  Discours  sur  la  satire  and  Satire  IX.]. — Boileau's 
moral  superiority  [Cf.  Satires  L,  V.,  VIII.  and  Epitres  III.,  V.,  VI.] 
over  the  majority  of  his  adversaries ; — and  over  two  at  least  of  his 
illustrious  friends. — The  absolute  independence  of  his  situation, 
humour,  and  taste  ; — his  freedom  of  judgment  [Cf.  Satire  V.,  on  the 
nobility,  and  Epitres  VIII.  and  IX.], — and  that  it  was  far  greater 
than  might  be  thought  at  first  sight. — Fruitfulness  of  his  criticism, — 
and,  in  this  connection,  whether  the  "  criticism  of  faults  "  may  not  help 
to  an  appreciation  of  the  contrary  qualities. — Of  the  personal  influence 
Boileau  may  have  exerted  on  Moliere ; — on  La  Fontaine  ; — on  Racine  ; 
— and  of  an  opinion  of  Sainte-Beuve  on  this  subject. — Of  the  Art 
poetique ;— and  how  it  forms  a  continuation  of  Boileau's  "critical" 
work  [Cf.  in  particular,  canto  iii.]. — The  "rules"  laid  down  in  it  are 
at  once  a  eulogy  of  Virgil  and  a  satire  on  the  Puce  lie  from  a  literary 
point  of  view ; — while  the  "  rules  "  it  gives  for  tragedy  constitute  at 
once  an  apology  for  the  tragedy  of  Racine  and  a  criticism  of  that  of 
Corneille. — In  the  same  way  the  Lutrin  is  the  criticism  in  action 
of  the  Virgile  travesti. — How  a  doctrine  grew  naturally  out  of  this 
criticism ; — and  what  is  this  doctrine  ? 

B.  Boileau's  doctrine. — That  its  starting-point  is  the  imitation  of 
nature : 

Nature  must  never  be  departed  from ; — 

and  hence,  as  in  Moliere's  comedy,  the  condemnation  alike  of  bur- 
lesque ; — and  of  preciosity. — Novelty  of  the  advice  at  the  time  it  was 
given,  since  it  was  so  many  years  since  anybody  had  proffered  it ; — 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     217 

far  as  is  known — a  state  of  things  which,  at  the  finish, 
of  a  woman  of  undistinguished  birth,  old,  poor,  the 
widow  of  a  writer  of  burlesque,  an  attendant  on  the 
mistress  of  the  king,  whose  court,  too,  is  the  most 
gallant  in  Europe,  has  made  of  this  woman  the  confidant, 
the  mistress  and  it  is  even  believed  the  wife  of  a  great 
monarch  "  [Cf.  Ezechiel  Spanheim,  Relation  de  la  Cour 
de  France  en  1690,  Paris,  1882] .  Whether  wife  or 
mistress,  the  aged  woman  esteems  that  the  only  way  to  in- 


with  the  sole  exception  of  Pascal. — The  way,  however,  in  which  the 
general  principle  of  the  imitation  of  nature  suffers  restrictions  in 
Boileau's  doctrine ; — owing  to  his  indifference  as  a  citizen  of  Paris 
to  external  nature ; — to  his  taste,  derived  from  his  contemporaries, 
for  purely  moral  observation ; — and  by  the  exigencies  of  the  current 
politeness : 

Never  touch  upon  what  is  low. 

Of  the  usefulness  of  these  restrictions ; — and  of  their  dangers ; — of 
which  the  most  considerable  is  to  reduce  the  imitation  of  nature  to 
the  imitation  of  what  all  men  have  in  common ; — -and  in  consequence 
to  reduce  nature  itself  to  what  is  most  abstract  in  nature. — How 
Boileau,  who  was  fully  alive  to  this  danger,  essayed  to  avoid  it ; — by 
giving  to  style  the  importance  he  has  accorded  it : 

In  this  dangerous  art  of  rhyming  and  writing 

There  is  no  intermediary  stage  between  the  mediocre  and  the  bad, 

and  by  recommending  the  imitation  of  the  ancients ; — whose  works  in 
his  eyes  are  not  only  models ; — but  are  the  treasure  store  as  well  of 
the  accumulated  experience  of  men ; — and  are  so  much  evidence  of 
the  identity  of  human  nature  beneath  all  its  outward  variations. — How 
Boileau's  doctrine  is  completed  by  a  moral  side ;  — and  how  much 
loftier  his  morality  is  than  of  the  other  men  of  letters  of  his  time. 

C.  Boileau's  Polemics  against  the  Moderns. — Of  the  usefulness  of 
polemics  as  obliging  us  to  look  clearly  into  our  own  ideas. — The 
translation  of  the  Traite  du  sublime,  1674 ; — and  the  Reflexions 
critiques  sur  Longin,  1694. — Whether  Boileau's  admiration  for  the 
ancients  was  not  almost  superstitious? — and  what  did  he  imagine  was 
"Pindaric"  about  his  Ode  sur  la  prise  de  Namur,  1693?  [Cf.  his 
Discours  sur  V0de\. — That  in  any  case  the  quarrel  obliged  Boileau  to 
revise  his  principles ; — and  that  while  he  did  not  abandon  them  ; — he 


218    MANUAL    OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

sure  the  duration  and  the  condonation  of  her  extraordinary 
fortune  is  to  affect  to  be  pious  and  a  prude.  Altri  tempi, 
altre  cure  !  Her  chief  concern  is  for  the  king's  salvation. 
He  is  governed  by  her,  and  she  is  governed  in  turn  by 
Nanon  her  servant.  The  glorious  period  of  the  reign  is 
over.  After  Eyswick  and  the  Savoy  marriage,  the 
vivacious  Duchess  of  Burgundy  is  scarcely  successful  in 
bringing  about  some  semblance  of  a  revival  of  the  splen- 

extended  the  range  of  their  consequences ; — and  better  defined  their 
application. — The  Septieme  reflexion  sur  Longin,  1694. — Of  the 
distinction  which  Boileau  admits  should  be  made  between  Lycophron 
and  Homer  ; — and  of  the  importance  of  this  distinction  ; — seeing  that 
Eonsard  and  Corneille  put  all  the  ancients  in  the  same  category. — 
That  he  made  yet  another  step  in  advance  ; — when  he  determined  the 
"historical  conditions"  on  which  the  perfection  of  literary  works 
depend  ; — and  he  was  the  first  to  make  these  conditions  lie  in  the 
juncture  or  coinciding  of  the  arrival  at  perfection  of  the  literary 
branches  with  the  arrival  at  maturity  of  the  language. — Boileau's  last 
works :  the  three  last  Epitrcs,  1695  ; — the  preface  to  the  edition  of 
1701,  containing  the  letter  to  M.  Perrault; — and  the  three  last 
Satires,  1694,  1698,  and  1705. 

Of  Boileau  as  a  poet, — or  rather  as  a  writer ; — his  admissions  on 
this  head  [Cf.  Satires  II.  a  M.  de  Moliere,  and  XII.  VEquivoque  and 
Epitres  VI.  and  X.]. — Would  one  suspect  in  reading  him  the  close 
relationship  between  Satire  and  Lyricism  ? — How  much  narrower  and 
above  all  how  much  less  daring  his  art  is  than  his  criticism. — 
The  qualities  he  lacks  are  those  in  which  Moliere  is  too  often 
deficient ; — elevation,  distinction,  and  grace  ; — and  these  are  not  only 
among  the  essential  qualities  of  a  poet ; — they  are  also  the  qualities 
upon  which  depend  "  aristocracy  "  of  style  : — and,  in  this  connection, 
that  this  enemy  of  the  Precieuses  might  have  learnt  more  than  one 
useful  lesson  from  them. — On  the  other  hand,  and  as  was  the  case 
with  Moliere,  he  possesses  all  the  "  middle-class  "  qualities, — and  in 
the  first  place,  and  -within  the  limits  of  his  horizon,  the  sense  of  the 
picturesque  side  of  reality, — [Cf.  Le  repas  ridicule,  the  Satire  des 
femnies,  the  four  first  cantos  of  the  Lutrin}  ; — he  has  humour,  too, 
humour  of  no  very  lofty  order  but  often  biting ; — and  finally  he 
possesses  in  a  high  degree  the  gift  of  rendering  his  thoughts  with  the 
expressive  brevity  of  the  proverb ; — a  gift  which  consists  in  the  ability 
to  find  a  "  handy  "  form  of  expression  for  common  experiences. — The 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     219 

dour  that  has  vanished  beyond  recall.  The  king  may 
still  be  alive,  but  the  reign  is  at  an  end  though  he  live 
for  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty  years !  The  laughter  and 
the  pleasure  are  things  of  the  past,  and  in  their  place 
reigns  a  gloomy  sadness.  And  little  by  little  a  thick, 
lugubrious  atmosphere  of  boredom  settles  down  over  all 
that  remains  of  what  was  once  "  the  most  gallant  court 
in  Europe." 

same  qualities  and  the  same  defects  are  to  be  found  in  his  prose  [Cf. 
his  correspondence,  the  Discours  sur  la  Satire  and  his  prefaces] — 
accompanied  by  less  restraint ; — and  by  a  certain  impressionableness 
and  off-handedness ; — which  exactly  reflect  his  character; — and  which 
do  him  honour. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  poetical  works  of  Boileau  comprise : — his 
Satires,  of  which  there  are  twelve; — his  Epitres,  also  twelve  in 
number ; — his  Art  poetique,  in  four  cantos ; — his  Lutrin,  in  six 
cantos ; — and  finally  some  miscellaneous  poems  including  the  Ode  sur 
la  prise  de  Namur  and  a  certain  number  of  epigrams. 

His  prose  works  comprise  : — the  Dissertation  sur  Joconde  and  the 
Dialogue  sur  les  heros  de  roman,  which  he  did  not  publish  himself ; 
his  translation  of  the  Traite  du  sublime  ;  his  Eeflexions  critiques  sur 
Longin ; — the  prefaces  to  the  different  editions  of  his  works,  1666, 
1674,  1675,  1683,  1685, 1694, 1701 ;— and  an  entire  volume  of  letters  of 
which  the  most  interesting  are  those  addressed  to  Racine  and  to 
Brossette. 

The  early  editions  of  the  Satires,  and  in  particular  that  of  1666, 
contain  a  considerable  number  of  passages  which  were  suppressed, 
transposed,  or  modified  in  the  succeeding  editions.  And  it  is  doubtless 
interesting  to  know  that  the  first  edition  of  the  Satire  des  femmes, 
which  is  that  of  1693,  did  not  contain  the  famous  portrait  of  the 
criminal  lieutenant  Tardieu : 

Mais  pour  mieux  mettre  ici  leur  crasse  en  tout  son  lustre  .  .  . 

Boileau  having  deleted  it  on  the  advice  of  Racine.  In  a  general  way, 
however,  the  editions  that  furnish  the  standard  text  are  nevertheless 
that  of  1701,  and  in  a  certain  measure  that  of  1713,  which  there  is 
reason  to  believe  he  prepared  for  the  press  himself. 

The  best  posthumous  editions  are  :  Saint-Marc's  edition,  Paris, 
1747,  five  volumes ; — Berriat  Saint-Prix'  edition,  Paris,  1830  ; — and 
Gidel's  edition,  Paris,  1880. 


220     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH    LITERATURE 

III 

Beyond  the  pale  of  the  court,  however,  the  formation 
of  fresh  coteries  is  soon  in  progress.  Moliere  is  dead  and 
Eacine  converted.  Boileau,  charged  with  writing  the 
history  of  the  royal  campaigns,  is  overjoyed  "  at  being 
engaged,  as  he  says,  on  the  glorious  task,  which  has 
released  him  from  the  poetical  profession  "  :  and  thus 
engaged  he  is  silent.  The  victims  these  writers  thought 
they  had  slain  return  at  once  to  life  :  with  smirk  and 
bow  the  adepts  of  preciosity  reappear  on  the  scene. 
Mme  Deshoulieres  rallies  them  around  her,  and  under  her 
protection 

Pradon  and  his  crew  dare  to  write  verse  and  go  unpunished ! 

SIXTH  PERIOD 

From  the  ca"bal  organised  against  "Phedre"  to  the 
issue  of  the  "  Lettres  Persanes  " 

1677-1722 

I. — The  beginnings  of  French  Opera. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Goujet,  Bibliotlieque  francaise,   articles,   BEN- 
SERADE  and  QUINAULT  ; — Chauffepie,  Dictionnaire,  article  QUINAULT  ; 
— Titon  du  Tillet,  Parnasse  francais,  articles  QUINAULT  and  LULLY; — 
Grimm,  in  the  Encyclopedic,   article   POEME   LYRIQUE  ; — the  life  of 
Quinault  preceding  the   edition   of  his   works,    Paris,    1778 ; — Leris, 
Dictionnaire  des  Theatres. 

Nuitter  and  Thoinan,  Les  origines  de  V Opera  francais,  Paris,  1886 ; 
— Bomain  Holland,  Histoire  de  I'Opera  en  Europe,  Paris,  1895. 

2.  THE  CONFLICT  BETWEEN  OPERA  AND  DRAMA. — The  triumph  of 
tragedy  and  comedy,  the  pure  species,  did  not  entirely  do  away  with 
the   hybrid  species :    tragi-comedy,  the   pastoral,   and  the   ballet. — 
Spectacular    plays :    Andromede,    1650,    and    the    Toison    d'or    by 
Corneille ; — Isaac  de  Benserade   and  his   ballets ;— Moliere's   ballet- 
comedies  :  La  princesse  d1  Elide,  1664 ;  Melicerte,  1666 ;  Psyche,  1671. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF  FRENCH   LITERATURE     221 

Jesuits  join  in,  and  now  give  lessons  in  taste  as  they  used 
to  give  lessons  in  morality.  Criticism  is  overrun  with 
professors.  Father  Bouhours  publishes  his  "  dialogues 
on  the  art  of  thinking  aright  as  applied  to  literature." 
He  teaches  in  them  that  it  is  incumbent  on  an  author  to 
imitate  nature.  Unfortunately,  he  cites  the  following 
quotation  as  a  specimen  of  a  perfectly  natural  thought : 
"  The  actions  of  princes  resemble  mighty  rivers  of  which 
few  have  seen  the  source,  but  of  which  all  men  see  the 
course."  Father  Kapin,  his  colleague,  when  not  engaged 
on  his  history  of  Jansenism,  discusses  with  Bussy  the 
question  "  whether  a  man  should  address  his  mistress  in 
the  second  person  singular'?  "  :  doubtless  the  question  is 
merely  one  of  style,  but  to  Pascal  it  would  indeed  have 
seemed  a  "  pretty  "  question.  In  the  meanwhile  Quinault 

— Analogy  between  all  these  essays,  and  that  their  object  was : — to 
procure  the  eye  satisfactions  which  tragedy  did  not  furnish  : — to  turn 
to  account  the  fables  of  mythology ; — and  to  set  free  the  musical 
element  that  is  contained  in  all  "  poetry." — The  foundation  of  the 
Academy  of  Music,  1669, — and  the  first  French  opera :  Pomone,  1671. 
— Jean-Baptiste  Lully  [Cf.  the  Memoires  of  Mme  de  Montpensier] . — 
His  collaboration  with  Moliere, — and  with  Quinault. — Their  first 
operas:  Cadmus  et  Hermione,  1673; — Alceste,  1674 ;— T//ese'e,  1675; 
Ati/s,  1676  ;— Isis,  1677. 

Quinault's  remarkable  talent  for  opera ; — Voltaire's  pompous  eulogy 
of  him ; — and  that  of  Quinault  and  Lully  it  was  the  former  who  during 
a  hundred  and  fifty  years  was  accounted  "  the  great  man." — Pleasing 
frivolity  of  Quinault's  imagination ; — his  fluent  style ; — and,  in  this 
connection,  of  the  frequent  recurrence  in  his  verses  of  comparisons 
drawn  from  "  liquids  "  ; — his  constant  desire  to  please ; — and  wishing 
to  please,  his  avoidance  of  the  more  profound  aspects  of  passion. — Of 
the  "  commonplaces  of  licentious  morality  "  in  Quinault's  operas. 

How  the  success  of  the  opera  influenced  the  direction  taken  by  the 
evolution  of  the  drama. — The  triumphs  of  Quinault  undoubtedly 
aroused  the  jealousy  of  Racine ; — and  what  is  worse,  his  emulation. — 
Of  the  evidence  there  is  in  PJiedre  of  an  intention  on  the  part  of 
Racine  to  vie  with  Quinault  [Cf.  Les  epoques  du  theatre  francais]. — 
That  Racine's  retirement  favoured  the  development  of  opera. — 


222    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

is  triumphant ;  the  success  of  his  Atys,  his  Persee,  or  his 
Armide  is  his  vengeance  for  the  onslaughts  of  the  author 
of  the  Satires  ;  while  half  a  dozen  opera  librettos  refurbish 
his  reputation  so  entirely  that  Voltaire,  eighty  years  later, 
will  be  led  astray  by  its  brilliancy.  There  is  an  active 
production  of  novels  of  the  stamp  of  the  Histoire 
amour euse  des  Gaules,  the  work  of  pamphleteers  of  the 
calibre  of  Courtilz  de  Sandras,  the  author  of  the  Memoires 
de  Bochefort  and  of  the  Trois  Mousquetaires — I  mean  of 
the  Memoires  de  M.  d'Artagnan.  At  the  same  time, 
writers  of  the  class  of  Montfleury,  of  Poisson,  and  of 
Dancourt,  who  is  beginning  his  career,  exhibit  their 
"  buffooneries  "  on  the  stage  made  illustrious  by  Moliere 
— on  the  stage  they  have  converted  into  a  show  of  as 
base  an  order  as  "a  public  execution"  according  to 

Thomas  Corneille's  Psyche,  1678 ; — Fontenelle's  Belleroplion,  1679  ; 
— Quinault's  Proserpine,  1680. — The  "  tragic  authors  "  take  to  writing 
indifferently  either  tragedy  or  lyric  tragedy. — Of  some  consequences 
of  this  practice  ; — and  how  after  having  influenced  style  in  the  direc- 
tion of  greater  laxity, — it  extends  its  influence  from  the  style  to  the 
matter  ; — it  enfeebles  the  conception  of  the  drama ; — and  substitutes 
for  the  art  of  depicting  character  or  the  passions,  the  art  of  appealing 
to  the  sensibility. 

3.  THE  WORKS.— Of  Quinault :  Cadmus,  1673  ;— Alceste,  1674  ;— 
Thesee,  W15;—Atys,  1676 ;— Isis,  1677 ;— of  Fontenelle  and  Th. 
Corneille  :  Psyche,  1678 ;  —  Bellerophon,  1679  ;  —  of  Quinault : 
Proserpine,  1680 ;— Persee,  1682 ;— Phaeton,  1683  -—Arnadis,  1684  ;— 
Roland,  1685  ; — Armide,  1686  ;• — of  Campistron  :  Acis  et  Galathee, 
1686  ;—Achille,  1687  ;— of  Fontenelle  :  Thetis  et  Pelee,  1687  ;—Enee 
et  Lavinie,  1690. 

II.— Nicolas  Malebranche  [Paris,  1638 ;  f  1715,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Fontenelle,  Eloge  de  Malebranche  ; — Tabaraud, 
Biographie  universelle,  article  MALEBRANCHE. 

Cousin,  Fragments  de  philosophie  moderne  ; — F.  Bouillier,  Histoire 
de  la  philosophie  cartesienne,  1854 ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Port-Royal, 
bk.  vi.,  chap.  v.  and  vi. ; — Blampignon,  Etude  sur  Malebranche,  Paris, 
1831 ; — OUe-Laprune,  La  philosophie  de  Malebranche,  Paris,  1870. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     223 

Eacine's  vigorous  expression.  La  Fontaine,  now  that 
his  former  friends  are  dead  or  live  apart  from  him, 
abandons  himself  to  his  natural  inclinations,  and  almost 
confines  himself  to  writing  tales — and  such  tales,  for  an 
author  who  is  over  sixty  years  of  age  !  From  the  other 
side  of  the  Channel,  Saint-Evremond,  who  has  also  grown 
old,  encourages  him  in  his  course.  At  the  residence  of 
the  Vendome  family  in  the  Temple  it  is  the  custom  to 
get  royally  intoxicated,  and  this  is  not  the  worst  that 
passes  there.  The  Princesses  of  the  blood  have  taken  to 
smoking  pipes.  Finally,  to  complete  the  parallel  between 
the  last  years  of  the  century  and  its  opening,  it  is  the 
turn  of  the  "libertines"  to  reappear  on  the  scene  to 
which  the  rakes  and  the  Precieux  have  returned  or  are 
returning. 

Father  Andre  :  Vie  du  Pere  Malebranclie,  published  by  Father 
Ingold,  Paris,  1886. 

2.  THE  PHILOSOPHER  ; — and  in  the  first  place  of  the  homage  it  is 
just  to  pay  the  writer. — Daunou's  fine  eulogy  of  the  style  of  Male- 
branche  ; — Daunou  not  having  forgotten  that  he  had  himself  belonged 
to  the  Oratory  [Cours  d' etudes  historiques,  vi.  and  xx.]. — Perfect 
simplicity ; — naivete  ; — eloquence  ; — and  more  particularly  the  ease  of 
his  style, — qualities  which  in  his  case  are  the  more  admirable  owing 
to  the  abstruse  nature  of  the  topics  he  treats. — No  French  philo- 
sopher  has  a  style  that  can  compare  with  that  of  Malebranche. 

The  disciple  of  Descartes  [Cf.  his  Eloge  by  Fontenelle]  ; — and  that 
the  philosophy  of  Malebranche  is  an  attempt  to  reconcile  Christianity 
and  Cartesianisin.  —  Malebranche's  exaggerated  confidence  in  the 
power  of  reason, — and  in  its  capacity  to  give  a  "  natural  "  explanation 
of  the  inexplicable. — His  optimism ; — and  that  though  he  owes  it 
directly  to  Descartes, — still  it  is  more  in  conformity  with  the  Christian 
conception  of  life  than  is  the  optimism  of  his  master. — The  idea  of 
Providence  in  the  philosophy  of  Malebranche  ; — and  that  it  scarcely 
differs  from  the  idea  of  Providence  entertained  by  the  Stoics  of 
antiquity. — That  all  these  theories  tended  to  establish  the  sufficiency 
of  "  natural  religion"  ; — and  it  is  a  fact  that  the  influence  of  Male- 
branche achieved  this  result,  though  doubtless  in  opposition  to  his 
wishes. 


224    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Bossuet  was  the  only  man  who  might  perhaps  have 
been  able  to  cope  with  these  invaders,  to  keep  them  in 
check  and  to  overawe  them :  and  Bossuet,  it  happens, 
though  he  delivered  his  last  Funeral  Orations  in  1685, 
1686,  and  1687,  preaches  but  rarely.  On  the  other  hand, 
being  no  longer  burdened  with,  or  at  least  being  no  longer 
responsible  for  the  education  of  the  Dauphin,  it  is  at  this 
very  period  that  he  is  producing  almost  all  his  principal 
works.  The  date  of  the  Discours  sur  I'histoire  universelle 
is  1681,  and  that  of  the  Histoire  des  variations  des  eglises 
protestantes,  1688.  Of  these  two  works,  it  is  the  first 
that  comes  in  for  the  most  praise.  And  yet  it  must  be 
said  of  the  second  that  there  is  no  finer  book  in  the  French 
language,  for  while,  like  the  Provinciates,  it  contains  un- 
perishable  examples  of  every  kind  of  noble  writing,  it  has 

The  critics  of  Malebranche  :  —  Arnauld,  —  Bossuet,  —  Fenelon, — 
Leibnitz  ; — a  letter  of  Bossuet  [May  21,  1687]  to  a  disciple  of  Male- 
branche.— Feneloii  refutes  the  Traite  de  la  nature  et  de  la  grace. 
— The  critics  of  Malebranche  object  more  particularly  to  his  theory 
that  the  Divine  action  takes  effect  "  on  general  lines  "  ; — since  they 
consider  this  theory  leads  to  that  of  the  "  stability  of  the  laws  of 
nature  "  ; — that  is  to  the  denial  of  the  supernatural ; — and  at  the  same 
time  to  the  disappearance  of  the  possibility  of  miracles ; — of  the 
necessity  for  a  revelation  ; — and  of  the  utility  of  religion. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — La  recherche  de  la  verite,  1674-1675  ; — Conversa- 
tions chretiennes,  1676  ; — -Traite  de  la  nature  et  de  la  grace ; — 
Meditations  chretiennes,  1683  ;—  Traite  de  morale,  1684  ; — Entretiens 
sur  la  metaphysique,  1688 ; — Traite  de  I 'amour  de  Dieu,  1697  ; — 
Eeponses  a  M.  Arnauld,  four  volumes,  the  last  of  which  appeared  in 
1709  ; — Reflexions  sur  la  promotion  physique,  1715. 

In  his  Fragments  de  philosopliie  moderne,  vol.  ii.,  Victor  Cousin 
has  published  an  important  series  of  letters  by  Malebranche,  the 
literary  interest  of  which  lies  in  their  showing  the  philosopher  in 
touch  with  Mairan  and  with  Fontenelle  and  his  group. 

There  is  only  one  edition  of  the  complete  works  of  Malebranche, 
two  volumes  in  4to,  Paris,  1837. 

In  1871  Jules  Simon  published  an  edition  of  the  works  of  Male- 
branche in  four  volumes  containing  the  Entretiens  sur  la  meta- 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     225 

this  advantage  over  Pascal's  work,  that  it  is  a  book  in  the 
highest  sense  of  the  word,  a  book  of  which  all  the  parts, 
though  distinct,  form  an  indivisible  whole,  whose  every 
page,  indeed  whose  every  line,  is  inspired  by  and  helps  to 
prove  the  soundness  of  the  idea  that  underlies  the  entire 
fabric.  Recent  researches,  moreover,  have  revealed  that 
greater  labour  and  greater  impartiality  have  never  been 
expended  on  the  preparation  of  a  polemical  work  [Cf. 
Rebelliau,  Bossuet  liistorien  du  protestantisms,  Paris, 
1891] .  And  why  should  we  not  add  that  it  would  be 
hard  to  cite  a  work  of  this  class,  whose  aim  is  nobler  or 
more  generous,  since  its  author's  sole  object  in  writing  it 
was  to  labour  for  that  "  reunion  of  the  Churches  "  which, 
after  being  the  dearest  dream  of  his  youth,  remained  to 
the  end  of  his  life  the  most  tenacious  of  his  illusions  ? 

pJiysique,  the  Meditations  chretiennes,  and  the  Recherche  de  la 
verite. 

III.— Pierre  Bayle  [Le  Carlat  (Ariege),  1647  ;  \  1706,  Rotterdam]. 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — Calendarium     Carlananum,    1660-1687,    and 
Bayle's  correspondence ; — Desmaizeaux,  Vie  de  M.  P.  Bayle,  1730, 
found  in  the  last  editions  of  the  Dictionnaire   and  in  vol.   xvi.    of 
Beuchot's  edition ; — Abbe  Marsy,  Analyse  raisonnee  des  ceuvres  de 
Baylc,  1755  ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  litteraires,  vol.  i.,  1835 ; — L. 
Feuerbach,  Pierre  Bayle,  ein  Beitrag  zur  Geschichte  der  Philosophic 
und  Menschheit,  Leipsic,  1838  and  1848 ; — Damiron,  Essai  sur  Vhis- 
loire  de  la  2>hilosophie  en  France  au  XVII''  siecle,  Paris,  1846; — A. 
Sayous,  La  litteralure  francaise  a  Vetranger,  Paris  and  Geneva,  vol.  i., 
1853  ; — Lenient,  Etude  sur  Bayle,  Paris,  1855  ; — Arsene  Deschamps, 
La  genese  du  scepticisme  erudit  cliez  Bayle,  Brussels,  1878 ; — Ernile 
Gigas,  Choix  de  la  correspond  ance  inedite  de  Pierre  Bayle,  Copen- 
hagen, 1890 ; — F.  Brunetiere,  Etudes  critiques,  5th  series,  Paris,  1893 ; 
— Ch.  Renouvier,  Philosophic  analytique  de  Vhistoire,  v.  iii.,  Paris, 
1897. 

2.  THE  CRITICISM  OF  BAYLB. 

A.  The  early  years  and  the  first  efforts  of  Bayle. — He  came  of  a 
Protestant  stock  ;  his  studies  at  Puylaurens  and  at  Toulouse,  1666- 
1669  ; — he  is  converted  to  Catholicism,  1669 ; — he  is  reconverted  to 

16 


226  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

The  Avertissements  aux  Protestants,  which  complete 
and  strengthen  the  Histoire  des  variations,  were  written 
between  1689  and  1691.  But  the  "reunion"  was  not 
destined  to  be  accomplished,  nor  was  Bossuet,  in  spite 
of  his  eloquence  and  his  masterly  dialectics,  to  be  success- 
ful to  any  notable  extent  in  stemming  the  progress  of 
"  libertinism." 

If  he  failed,  however,  it  was  not  because  he  was  blind 
to  this  progress,  as  is  proved  sufficiently  by  the  many 
passages  that  might  be  quoted  from  his  works  [Cf.  in 
particular  the  Sermon  sur  la  divinite  de  la  religion,  1665  ; 
the  Discours  sur  I'histoire  universellc,  part  ii.,  1681;  and 
the  Oraison  funebre  d'Anne  de  Gonzague,  -1685].  From 
the  very  first  he  was  fully  alive  to  the  tendencies  of 
the  exegesis  of  Richard  Simon,  and  yet  to  divine  them 

Protestantism,  1670  ; — his  departure  for  Geneva  and  his  tutorships : — 
in  the  family  of  M.  de  Normandie  ; — in  that  of  the  Comte  de  Dhona  ; 
— his  return  to  France,  1647. — Bayle  professor  of  philosophy  at  the 
Protestant  Academy  of  Sedan,  1675-1681  [Cf.  his  Cursus  philoso- 
2)hia,  and  Bourchenin  Les  academies  Protestantes], — Suppression 
of  the  Sedan  academy. — Bayle  takes  up  his  residence  at  Rotterdam, 
1681, — where  he  holds  the  post  of  unattached  professor  of  philosophy, 
in  the  pay  of  the  town. — Publication  of  the  Pensees  sur  la  comete, 
1682, — and  of  the  Critique  generate  de  Vhistoire  du  Calvinisme  du 
Pere  Maimbourg. — Singular  character  of  these  two  works  ; — the 
style  of  which  is  behind, — and  the  ideas  of  which  are  in  advance  of 
those  of  his  contemporaries  by  thirty  or  forty  years. — Bayle  embarks 
upon  the  publication  of  the  Nouvelles  de  la  Bepublique  des  lettres, 
1684. — It  is  a  paper  or  a  magazine,  and  Bayle  must  not  for  a  moment 
be  judged  by  it : — "  I  did  not  exercise  the  functions  of  a  critic  in 
this  publication,  he  has  himself  declared,  "  merely  noting  in  the 
books  what  was  of  a  nature  to  call  attention  to  them." — Revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. — Bayle  publishes  his  two  pamphlets :  Ce 
que  c'est  que  la  France  toute  catholique  sous  le  regne  de  Louis  le 
Grand,  1686 ;  and  the  Convmentaire  pMlosophique  sur  le  Compelle 
intrare,  1686; — indignation  of  the  Protestant  party,  and  of  Jurien 
in  particular. — Bossuet' s  adversary  is  equally  the  adversary  of  Bayle  ; 
— whom  he  bitterly  reproaches  with  "preaching  the  dogma  of  reli- 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH    LITERATURE     227 

so  early  as  1678  was  none  too  easy.  Again,  as  early  as 
1687,  he  foresaw  what  he  himself  spoke  of  as  "  the  great 
attack,  which,  under  the  name  of  Cartesianism,  was  pre- 
paring against  the  Church."  He  was  as  little  mistaken  in 
his  opinion  that,  if  the  progress  of  libertinism  were  to  be 
resisted  efficaciously,  a  beginning  must  be  made  by  re- 
uniting in  a  single  body  the  scattered  elements  of  the 
Church ;  for  both  time  and  the  admissions  of  orthodox 
Protestantism  have  borne  out  the  correctness  of  his  views 
on  this  point.  Under  these  circumstances,  what  were 
the  reasons  of  his  failure  ?  The  first  was  that  the  Pro- 
testants, encouraged  at  the  time  by  their  successes  in 
the  war  which  followed  the  formation  of  the  League  of 
Augsburg,  believed  they  would  profit  by  all  the  losses 
that  might  be  sustained  by  Catholicism,  an  opinion  that 

gious  indifference  and  universal  tolerance." — Bayle  conceals  his 
authorship  of  the  book ; — himself  makes  ironical  allusions  to  it  in 
his  Lettres ; — complains  in  his  Nouvelles  of  its  being  ascribed  to 
him ; — and  thus  sets  the  example  of  those  rather  dishonourable 
tactics,  which  will  be  adopted  by  Voltaire. — He  has  the  "  courage  of 
his  opinions,"  but  he  is  afraid  of  their  consequences. — The  Avis 
aux  refugies,  1690; — and  whether  Bayle  is  its  author  [Cf.  Sayous, 
Litterature  francaise  a  Vetranger]  ?  —  Interest  of  the  question. 
—  The  discussion  between  Bayle  and  Jurien  grows  more  and 
more  bitter.  —  Jurien  accuses  him  of  atheism ;  —  in  support  of 
Jurien' s  accusation  the  "  Protestant  ministers  "  call  attention  to 
certain  characteristic  passages  in  the  Pensees  sur  la  comete ; — 
the  Rotterdam  magistrates  deprive  Bayle  of  his  pension ; — and 
cancel  his  authorisation  to  teach.  —  Curious  passage  in  one  of 
Bayle's  letters  [December  28,  1693],  —  which  goes  to  show  that 
the  hostility  he  had  excited  was  more  especially  due  to  his  being 
a  Cartesian : — "  The  Rotterdam  ministers  ...  he  says,  are  obstinate 
admirers  of  Aristotle,  whom  they  do  not  understand,  and  they 
cannot  hear  Descartes  spoken  of  without  falling  into  a  rage." 

B.  The  Dictionnaire  historique  et  critique. — The  original  scheme 
of  the  Dictionnaire  [Cf.  the  scheme  of  1692]  ; — and  that  the  work 
was  intended  to  be  one  of  pure  erudition ; — having  for  its  sole  object 
to  trace  and  to  rectify  the  errors  in  the  other  dictionaries. — The 


226  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

The  Avertissements  aux  Protestants,  which  complete 
and  strengthen  the  Histoire  des  variations,  were  written 
between  1689  and  1691.  But  the  "reunion"  was  not 
destined  to  be  accomplished,  nor  was  Bossuet,  in  spite 
of  his  eloquence  and  his  masterly  dialectics,  to  be  success- 
ful to  any  notable  extent  in  stemming  the  progress  of 
"  libertinism." 

If  he  failed,  however,  it  was  not  because  he  was  blind 
to  this  progress,  as  is  proved  sufficiently  by  the  many 
passages  that  might  be  quoted  from  his  works  [Cf.  in 
particular  the  Sermon  sur  la  divinite  de  la  religion,  1665  ; 
the  Discours  sur  I'histoire  universellc,  part  ii.,  1681;  and 
the  Oraison  funebre  d'Anne  de  Gonzague,  -1685].  From 
the  very  first  he  was  fully  alive  to  the  tendencies  of 
the  exegesis  of  Eichard  Simon,  and  yet  to  divine  them 

Protestantism,  1670  ; — his  departure  for  Geneva  and  his  tutorships : — 
in  the  family  of  M.  de  Normandie  ; — in  that  of  the  Comte  de  Dhona  ; 
— his  return  to  France,  1647. — Bayle  professor  of  philosophy  at  the 
Protestant  Academy  of  Sedan,  1675-1681  [Cf.  his  Cursus  philoso- 
pliice,  and  Bourchenin  Les  academies  Protestantes]. — Suppression 
of  the  Sedan  academy. — Bayle  takes  up  his  residence  at  Rotterdam, 
1681, — where  he  holds  the  post  of  unattached  professor  of  philosophy, 
in  the  pay  of  the  town. — Publication  of  the  Pensees  sur  la  comete, 
1682, — and  of  the  Critique  generale  de  I'histoire  du  Calvinisme  du 
Pere  Maimbourg. — Singular  character  of  these  two  works  ; — the 
style  of  which  is  behind, — and  the  ideas  of  which  are  in  advance  of 
those  of  his  contemporaries  by  thirty  or  forty  years. — Bayle  embarks 
upon  the  publication  of  the  Nouvelles  de  la  Republique  des  lettres, 
1684. — It  is  a  paper  or  a  magazine,  and  Bayle  must  not  for  a  moment 
be  judged  by  it : — "  I  did  not  exercise  the  functions  of  a  critic  in 
this  publication,  he  has  himself  declared,  "  merely  noting  in  the 
books  what  was  of  a  nature  to  call  attention  to  them." — Revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. — Bayle  publishes  his  two  pamphlets :  Ce 
que  c'est  que  la  France  toute  catJiolique  sous  le  regne  de  Louis  le 
Grand,  1686 ;  and  the  Commentaire  philosophique  sur  le  Compelle 
intrare,  1686; — indignation  of  the  Protestant  party,  and  of  Jurien 
in  particular. — Bossuet's  adversary  is  equally  the  adversary  of  Bayle  ; 
— whom  he  bitterly  reproaches  with  "  preaching  the  dogma  of  reli- 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH    LITERATURE     227 

so  early  as  1678  was  none  too  easy.  Again,  as  early  as 
1687,  lie  foresaw  what  he  himself  spoke  of  as  "the  great 
attack,  which,  under  the  name  of  Cartesianism,  was  pre- 
paring against  the  Church."  He  was  as  little  mistaken  in 
his  opinion  that,  if  the  progress  of  libertinism  were  to  be 
resisted  efficaciously,  a  beginning  must  be  made  by  re- 
uniting in  a  single  body  the  scattered  elements  of  the 
Church ;  for  both  time  and  the  admissions  of  orthodox 
Protestantism  have  borne  out  the  correctness  of  his  views 
on  this  point.  Under  these  circumstances,  what  were 
the  reasons  of  his  failure  ?  The  first  was  that  the  Pro- 
testants, encouraged  at  the  time  by  their  successes  in 
the  war  which  followed  the  formation  of  the  League  of 
Augsburg,  believed  they  would  profit  by  all  the  losses 
that  might  be  sustained  by  Catholicism,  an  opinion  that 

gious  indifference  and  universal  tolerance." — Bayle  conceals  his 
authorship  of  the  book  ; — -himself  makes  ironical  allusions  to  it  in 
his  Lettres ; — complains  in  his  Nouveiles  of  its  being  ascribed  to 
him ; — and  thus  sets  the  example  of  those  rather  dishonourable 
tactics,  which  will  be  adopted  by  Voltaire. — He  has  the  "  courage  of 
his  opinions,"  but  he  is  afraid  of  their  consequences. — The  Avis 
aux  refugies,  1690; — and  whether  Bayle  is  its  author  [Cf.  Sayous, 
Litterature  francaise  a  Vetranger}  ?  —  Interest  of  the  question. 
—  The  discussion  between  Bayle  and  Jurien  grows  more  and 
more  bitter.  —  Jurien  accuses  him  of  atheism ;  —  in  support  of 
Jurien's  accusation  the  "  Protestant  ministers "  call  attention  to 
certain  characteristic  passages  in  the  Pensees  sur  la  comete ; — 
the  Rotterdam  magistrates  deprive  Bayle  of  his  pension ; — and 
cancel  his  authorisation  to  teach.  —  Curious  passage  in  one  of 
Bayle's  letters  [December  28,  1693], — which  goes  to  show  that 
the  hostility  he  had  excited  was  more  especially  due  to  his  being 
a  Cartesian : — "  The  Rotterdam  ministers  ...  he  says,  are  obstinate 
admirers  of  Aristotle,  whom  they  do  not  understand,  and  they 
cannot  hear  Descartes  spoken  of  without  falling  into  a  rage." 

B.  The  Dictionnaire  historique  et  critique. — The  original  scheme 
of  the  Dictionnaire  [Cf.  the  scheme  of  1692] ; — and  that  the  work 
was  intended  to  be  one  of  pure  erudition  ; — having  for  its  sole  object 
to  trace  and  to  rectify  the  errors  in  the  other  dictionaries. — The 


230     MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

was  the  sensation  aroused  by  the  Relation  sur  le  quietisme, 
and  the  book  was  literally  devoured.  Victory  followed 
close  on  the  appearance  of  the  work,  which  brought  about 
the  downfall  of  Quietism.  Still  for  five  whole  years  a 
purely  theological  question,  and  a  question  too  of  mystical 
theology,  had  diverted  Bossuet's  attention  from  a  matter 
which,  perhaps,  was  of  greater  urgency.  Once  again, 
moreover,  public  opinion  had  taken  but  a  languid  interest 
in  a  quarrel,  the  violence  of  which  it  found  so  incompre- 
hensible, that  it  had  sought  an  explanation  in  reasons 
that  were  little  to  the  honour  of  either  of  the  combatants. 
"  I  assure  you,"  wrote  the  Princess  Palatine,  "that  this 
quarrel  between  bishops  turns  on  anything  rather  than 
on  matters  of  faith." 

Rotterdam  consistory ; — and  to  justify  himself  he  writes  his  four 
dissertations  on  "  Atheists  ";— on  the  "  Manicheans"  ; — on  "  Obsceni- 
ties";— and  on  the  "  Tyrrhenians." — Remarks,  in  this  connection, 
on  the  subjects  of  "  Protestant  tolerance  "  and  "  liberty  in  Holland." 
The  Reponses  aux  questions  d'un  provincial,  1703 ;  —  and  the 
Continuation  des  Pensees  sur  la  comete,  1704. — The  theory  of  the 
incompetency  of  universal  consent; — and  the  chapter  :  "  It  is  in  no- 
wise sure  that  the  impressions  left  by  nature  are  to  be  accepted  as 
the  expression  of  the  truth "  [Cf.  Continuation,  ch.  23  and  24].— 
Death  of  Bayle : — Perfect  dignity  of  his  life. — His  disinterestedness. 
His  only  vices  were  intellectual  vices  ; — and  with  Spinoza ; — although 
his  existence  was  less  noble  than  Spinoza's  ; — he  was  one  of  the  first 
writers  whose  intellectual  libertinism  was  not  prompted  by  moral 
libertinism. — Importance  of  this  fact  [Cf.  Bossuet's  and  Bourdaloue's 
attacks  on  the  libertines] ; — and  how  greatly  it  contributed  to  the 
propagation  of  Bayle's  philosophical  ideas. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — We  have  enumerated  Bayle's  principal  works, 
and  there  only  remains  to  mention  in  addition  a  voluminous  and 
interesting  correspondence. 

The  best  edition  of  his  Works  is  the  great  edition  of  1727,  1731  in  4 
folio  vols,  the  Hague,  published  by  Husson,  Johnson,  Gosse,  &c.  [the 
reprint  of  this  edition  of  1737  contains  about  150  additional  letters] ; 
the  best  edition  of  the  Dictionnaire  is  that  of  1720,  also  in  4  vols., 
Rotterdam,  published  by  Michel  Bohm. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     231 

She  quoted  the  epigram  : 

In  these  conflicts  in  which  our  French  prelates 

Appear  to  seek  the  truth, 

One  declares  it  is  hope  that  is  being  destroyed, 

The  other  that  it  is  charity. 

But  it  is  faith  that  is  being  destroyed  without  anybody  giving 
the  matter  a  thought. 

And  under  cover  of  this  controversy  it  was  libertinism 
that  was  making  giant  strides  in  proportion  as  religion 
lost  its  prestige  and  authority. 

For  while  "the  secret  of  the  sanctuary"  [Cf.  Diderot, 
Apologie  pour  I'abbe  de  Prades]  was  being  betrayed,  as  it 
seemed,  in  this  way,  Cartesianism  was  biding  its  time, 
was  merely  awaiting  an  opportunity  to  enter  the  citadel. 

In  1820  Beuchot  published  an  edition  of  the  Dictionnaire  in  sixteen 
volumes,  enriched  with  the  commentaries  or  remarks  of  all  the  notable 
students  of  the  author,  Prosper  Marchand,  Chaufepie,  Leclerc, 
Joli,  &c. 

It  cannot  be  too  much  regretted  that  there  are  no  modern  editions 
of  the  Works,  not  even  of  the  famous  Avis  aux  refugies  or  of  the 
Pensees  sur  la  comete. 

IV.— Bernard  le  Bouvier  de  Fontenelle  [Rouen,  1657; 
t  1757,  Paris]. 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — Grimm,    Correspondance   litteraire    February, 
1757 ; — Abbe  Trublet,  Memoires  pourservir  a.  Vhistoire  de  la  vie  et  des 
ouvrages  de  M.  de   Fontenelle,  2nd  edit.  Paris,    1761 ; — Villenave's 
Notice  preceding  his  edition  of  Fontenelle's  works,  Paris,  1818 ; — 
Garat,  Memoires  sur  la  vie  de  M.  Suard,   Paris,   1820 ;   Flourens, 
Fontenelle  ou  de  la  philosophic  moderne,  Paris,  1847  ;  Sainte-Beuve, 
Fontenelle  in  the  Cauteries  du  lundi,  vol.  iii. ; — J.  Bertrand,  L'Aca- 
demie  des  sciences  de  1666  a  1793,  Paris,  1869. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — The  Cydias  of  La  Bruyere, — that 
La  Bruyere's  experience  of  life  was  insufficient  to  allow  of  his  know- 
ing and  appreciating  the  real  Fontenelle. — Fontenelle's  universality; 
— he  is  the  author  of  tragedies,  eclogues,  operas,  and  comedies ; — and 
of  dissertations,  dialogues,  novels  and  of  works  that  are  of  the  nature 
of  works  of  history  and  criticism. — His  characteristic  trait  is  that  he 


232    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

It  may  be  that  this  Cartesianism  was  a  degenerate  form 
of  the  true  doctrine  of  Descartes,  but  it  was  a  logical 
Cartesianism  logically  evolved  from  the  philosopher's 
principles ;  and  this  is  the  moment  to  trace  its  real 
influence. 

"  Every  philosophy,  Sainte-Beuve  has  said  [Cf.  Port- 
Royal,  bk.  iv.,  ch.  5] ,  whatever  it  be  at  the  outset  and 
in  the  mouth  of  its  original  founder,  becomes  anti- 
Christian  or  at  least  heretical  with  the  second  generation ; 
this  is  a  law  it  is  essential  not  to  overlook."  An  instruc- 
tive example  of  its  operation  is  afforded  by  the  gentle, 
eloquent  and  candid  Malebranche.  A  faithful  and  indeed 
a  passionate  disciple  of  Descartes,  it  occurs  to  him  to 
form  the  project  of  applying  his  master's  principles  to 

was  a  "  man  of  wit "  ; — in  every  sense  of  the  word ; — that  is  to  say  a 
man  of  culture,  a  witty  man,  and  almost  a  man  of  great  intellect ; — 
and  that  he  is  a  remarkable  example  of  what  the  intellect  is  capable 
and  incapable  of. 

A.  The  Man  of  Culture  : — He  was  Corneille's  nephew ; — and  for  this 
reason  the  born  enemy  of  Racine  and  Boileau  ; — his  first  literary  efforts 
in  the  Mercure  galant,  1677  ; — he  collaborates  in  the  operas  Psyche 
and  Bellerophon,  1678  and  1679 ; — his  tragedy  Aspar  [Cf .  Racine's 
epigram] ; — the  Dialogues  des  Marts,  1683  ; —  the  Lettres  du  chevalier 
d'Her  .  .  .  ,  1683 ; — and  of  the  sort  of  family  likeness  there  is 
between  this  work  and  Voiture's  Lettres. — Bayle's  eulogy  of  this 
book  [Cf.  Nouvelles  de  la  Hepublique  des  lettres,  December,  1687] ; — 
Fontenelle  publishes  his  Entretiens  sur  la  pluralite  des  mondes,  1686. 
Success  of  this  book  and  the  nature  of  its  success  [Cf.  Garat,  Memoires 
sur  M.  Suard~\. ^Injustice  of  La  Bruyere. — With  the  Entretiens  sur 
la  pluralite  science  makes  its  entry  into  literature  for  the  first  time ; 
— and  even  into  the  conversation  of  society. — Fontenelle's  other 
writings ; — his  Memoires  sur  le  nombre  9  ; — his  Doutes  sur  le  systeme 
des  causes  occasionelles  ;— his  Histoire  des  oracles,  1687. — The  way 
in  which  Fontenelle's  culture  enables  him  to  procure  acceptance  for 
a  number  of  ideas  which  are  as  daring  as  they  are  novel. — Extensive- 
ness  and  diversity  of  the  world  in  which  his  intellect  moves,  as 
compared  with  the  narrowness  of  the  world  to  which  Racine  and 
Boileau  had  confined  themselves. 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE     233 

the  demonstration  or  the  development  of  the  truths  of 
Christianity ;  and  now  suddenly,  through  a  rent  in  the 
veil,  the  essential  contradiction  comes  into  view.  It  is 
impossible  to  be  at  once  a  Christian  and  a  Cartesian !  it 
is  clear  in  an  instant  that  the  universal  determinism  of 
the  philosophers  is  incompatible  with  the  conception  of 
a  divine  Providence.  Pascal  had  detected  this  latent 
antagonism,  and  it  does  not  escape  Bossuet,  for  it  is  at 
this  juncture  that  he  causes  Fenelon  to  write  his  Refuta- 
tion du  Traite  de  la  nature  et  de  la  grace,  in  answer  to 
Malebranche.  Arnauld  also,  the  great  Arnauld  as  he  is 
already  called,  is  alive  to  the  truth.  "  The  more  mindful 
I  am  that  I  am  a  Christian,  writes  the  one,  the  less 
can  I  share  the  ideas  he  (Malebranche)  propounds  "  ;  and 

B.  The   "  homme    dj esprit." — New  signification   acquired   by  the 
word  "esprit  "  at  the  time  of  Fontenelle; — and  in  the  first  place  it 
conveys  the  idea  that  the  man  who  possesses  the  quality  it  expresses 
is  a  man  of  wide  interests. — Fontenelle  is  interested  in  very  many 
things ; — and  in  the  essence   of   things  [Cf.  among  his  Dialogues  : 
Laure  et  Sapho,  Agnes  Sorel  et  Roxelane,  Socrate  et  Montaigne, 
Anne  de  Bretagne  et  Marie  Tudor,  Brutus  et  Faustine] — Secondly 
an  "  homme  d'esprit  "  is  a  man  who  does  not  attach  more  importance 
to  things  than  they  deserve; — and  to  employ  one   of   Fonteiielle's 
favourite  expressions  he  is  "that  man"  [Cf.  among  his  Dialogues : 
Erasme    et    Charles-Quint,   Alexandre    et    Pliryne,    Guillaume   de 
Cabestan  et  Frederic   de  Brandebourg,  Straton  et  Raphael]. — His 
liking   for    what    is    new    [Cf.   Digression    sur   lea  Anciens  et  les 
Modernes]. — His  independent  attitude  towards  tradition. — Finally  an 
"homme   d'esprit"  is   a  man  who  perceives  the  relations  between 
things   and   the   category  to   which   they  belong    [Cf.   Histoire  des 
oracles]  ; — who   makes   further  suggestions  to  his  readers  in  these 
connections  ; — pointing  out  relations  and  categories  which  are  unex- 
pected and  remote. — That  Fontenelle  makes  his  readers  think  ; — and 
that  the  distinguishing  features  of  his  talent  are  its  subtlety ; — and 
the  far-reaching  import  of  the  hints  he  gives. 

C.  Fontenelle  as  a  great  intellect ; — that  it  is  justifiable  to  regard 
him  as  such  merely  because  he  applied  his  intelligence  to  the  con- 
sideration of  matters  of  great  moment. — His  preface  to  the  Histoire 


'234  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  FEENCH  LITEEATUEE 

in  turn  the  second  declares  :  "  The  further  I  progress 
with  this  work  (it  was  a  refutation  of  the  Traite  de 
nature  et  de  la  grace)  the  more  I  am  struck  by  the 
antagonism  between  religion  and  these  metaphysical 
imaginings."  But  the  mighty  theologian  has  been  long 
in  perceiving  this  antagonism,  and  what  is  more,  well 
equipped  as  he  is  in  some  respects,  he  labours  under  the 
disadvantage  of  lacking  the  rich,  fluent,  and  seductive 
style  of  Malebranche.  Nobody  reads  him,  while  Male- 
branche  is  read.  He  is  confronted  at  last  by  a  writer,  a 
genuine  writer,  by  the  great  writer  whom  up  to  now 
Cartesianism  had  been  without.  And  it  is  a  fact  that 
Malebranche  finds  disciples.  While  Bossuet  and  Fenelon 
are  wasting  their  energy  in  other  conflicts,  he  goes  on 

de  I1  Academic  des  sciences,  1699. — The  idea  of  the  "  solidarity  of  the 
sciences  "  finds  expression  in  it  for  perhaps  the  first  time  in  litera- 
ture;— also  the  idea  of  the  "invariability  of  the  laws  of  nature." — 
Fontenelle's  "eulogies"  [See  in  particular  the  eulogies  of  Vauban, 
d'Argenson,  Newton  (1727),  Boerhaave,  Malebranche,  Leibnitz]  ; — they 
are  evidence  of  a  subtle  intellect ; — of  a  wide  power  of  comprehension  ; 
— and  of  a  faculty  of  grouping  things  so  as  to  allow  of  their  being 
regarded  from  the  same  point  of  view. — Growing  authority  of 
Fontenelle  among  men  of  learning ; — in  society  ; — among  literary 
men. — Fontenelle's  later  works ; — his  Vie  de  Corneille,  1729 ; — his 
Reflexions  sur  la  Poetique ; — his  Theorie  des  tourbillons  cartesiens, 
1752. — The  numerous  points  on  which  Fontenelle  was  the  harbinger  of 
Voltaire ;— the  many  personal  traits  which  make  him  the  forerunner 
of  Voltaire ; — and  what  were  the  deficiencies  that  prevented  him 
playing  Voltaire's  part  ? 

In  the  first  place  he  was  wanting  to  a  certain  degree  hi  originality ; — 
and  above  all,  to  a  certain  degree,  in  conviction.— Mine  de  Tencin's 
remark:  "You  have  a  brain  where  you  ought  to  have  a  heart"; — 
and,  in  this  connection,  of  Fontenelle's  scepticism ; — it  did  not  consist 
so  much  in  the  belief  that  it  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  the  truth ; — as 
in  the  belief  that  truth  is  essentially  aristocratic ; — that  it  cannot  be 
communicated  to  the  masses ; — and  further  that  it  is  of  no  very  great 
utility. — How  this  conception  of  truth  is  characteristic  of  the  "  wit"  ; 
— of  the  society  man  and  of  the  epicurean. — Whether  it  was  not  this 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FEENCH   LITERATUEE     235 

with  his  work  in  the  retirement  of  his  humble  chamber,  and 
his  work  consists  in  humanising — in  "  laicising  "  it  would 
be  said  to-day — those  elements  of  Christian  doctrine  which 
mankind  is  most  disposed  to  regard  as  harsh  or  as  contrary 
to  reason.  He  softens  down  the  doctrine  of  the  fall ;  he 
tempers  the  doctrine  of  grace ;  he  banishes  God  to  a  dis- 
tance from  the  world ;  he  denies  His  intervention  in  the 
affairs  of  men ;  he  has  a  way  of  interpreting  the  super- 
natural which  makes  of  it  a  sort  of  less  obvious  con- 
formity with  the  laws  of  nature ;  and  his  contemporaries 
made  no  mistake  as  to  his  teaching :  they  recognised  it 
to  be  Cartesianism. 

They  saw  a  further  exemplification  of  this  same 
doctrine  in  the  scepticism  or  criticism  of  Pierre  Bayle,  of 

philosophy  that  prevented  Fontenelle  putting  his  whole  soul  into  some 
great  work  ? — The  Fragments  d'un  traite  de  la  Raison  humaine. — 
And  that  in  any  case  it  prevented  him  exerting  the  influence  he  could 
have  exerted  had  he  chosen. — Still,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  fact  that 
with  the  exception  of  Bayle,  he  did  more  than  any  other  writer  to 
fashion  the  generation  of  the  Encyclopedists. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Fontenelle's  works  being  too  little  known,  we 
think  it  right  to  outline  here  the  contents  of  the  eight  volumes  of  the 
edition  of  1790. 

VOL.  I. — Documents  relating  to  Fontenelle's  biography ;— Dialogues 
des  morts  anciens ; — Dialogues  des  morts  anciens  avec  les  modernes. 

VOL.  II. — Entretiens  sur  la  pluralite  des  Mondes ; — Theorie  des 
iourbillons  ; — Histoire  des  oracles. 

VOL.  III. — Histoire  du  Theatre  francais  ; — Vie  de  Corneille ; — 
Reflexions  sur  la  Poetique ; — Description  de  V empire  de  Poesie  [Cf . 
the  Carte  du  pays  de  Tendre~\ . — In  this  last  work  occur  the  following 
lines,  which  were  evidently  [1678]  intended  for  Kacine,  Boileau,  and 
their  followers :  "  The  High  Poetry  is  inhabited  by  solemn, 
melancholy,  surly  people  who  speak  a  language  which,  compared 
with  that  spoken  in  the  other  provinces  of  poetry,  is  what  low  Breton 
is  to  the  language  of  the  rest  of  France." — Fontenelle's  operas  and 
tragedies,  of  which  one  is  in  prose,  complete  the  volume. 

VOL.  IV. — His  eight  comedies :  Macate,  Le  Tyran,  Abdolonyme, 
the  Testament,  Henrietle,  Lysianasse,  the  Comete,  and  Pygmalion. 


236     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

whom  almost  the  only  work  consulted  to-day  is  his  great 
Dictionary.  But  his  Pensees  sur  la  comete  date  from  1682, 
and  no  work  made  more  noise  at  the  time,  or  stood  the 
party  of  the  libertines  in  greater  stead.  For  briefly  put, 
what  else  is  Bayle's  criticism  but  the  extension  of  the 
Cartesian  principle  of  doubt  to  dangerous  matters,  which 
Descartes  had  skilfully  avoided,  and  excluded  as  it  were 
from  the  application  of  his  method  ?  Bayle,  writing  like 
his  master  from  his  retreat  in  Holland,  and  armed  with 
his  Cartesianism,  is  the  first  who  dares  to  subject  religion 
and  morality  to  a  dissolvent  criticism.  It  may  be  urged  at 
first  sight  that  he  criticises  and  doubts  for  the  sole  pleasure 
of  doubting  and  criticising.  But  examine  his  work  more 
closely  and  consider  attentively  some  of  his  conclusions. 

The  last  of  these  comedies  is  in  verse ;  the  other  seven  are  in 
prose. 

VOL.  V. — His  ten  eclogues ; — his  miscellaneous  poems ; — the 
Digression  sur  les  Anciens  et  les  Modernes ; — the  Fragments  (Tun 
traite  de  la  liaison  humaine ; — and  a  few  minor  works  of  the  same 
stamp  at  once  playful  and  philosophic. 

VOLS.  VI.  and  VII.— The  Eloges  (Eulogies). 

VOL.  VIII. — The  Doutes  sur  le  systeme  des  causes  occasionelles. — 
The  Lettres  galantes  du  chevalier  d'Her  .  .  .; — and  Fontenelle's 
letters. 

There  is  a  modern  edition  of  Fontenelle's  works  dated  1817. 

There  have  been  numerous  modern  reprints  of  the  Entreiiens  sur 
la  pluralite  des  Mondes  and  the  Eloges. 

V.— The  Reorganisation  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences. 

1.  The  SCIENTIFIC  MOVEMENT  PRIOR  TO  FONTENELLE, — and  of  the 
mistake  that  is  made  in  overlooking  its  importance. — The  great  dis- 
coveries in  mathematics  and  the  physical  sciences  were  made  during 
the  earlier  years  of  the  seventeenth  century ; — also  some  of  the  great 
discoveries  in  natural  science ; — and  discoveries  of  greater  importance 
will  not  be  made  in  any  of  these  fields  until  towards  the  close  of  the 
following  century. — In  proof  of  this  assertion  it  is  sufficient  to  cite 
some  few  names:  Kepler,  1571-1630; — Galileo,  1564-1642; — 
Descartes,  1596-1650 ;— Pascal,  1623-1662  ;— Huyghens,  1629-1695; 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     237 

It  will  be  found  that  he  is  in  nowise  addicted  to  paradox, 
and  when  he  writes  "it  is  better  to  be  an  atheist  than 
an  idolater,"  he  knows  perfectly  well  what  he  is  saying, 
and  above  all  he  knows  the  goal  at  which  he  is  aiming. 
Again,  is  there  any  doubt  as  to  his  intention  when  he 
contrasts  "the  evidences  afforded  by  reason  "  with  "the 
truths  of  our  religion  "  ;  and  who  does  not  see  or  suspect 
the  end  he  has  in  view?  The  truth  is,  this  alleged 
sceptic  is  engaged  in  establishing  the  sovereignty  of 
reason  on  the  ruins  of  tradition  and  authority.  "  During 
the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  there  were  already  men  who 
are  our  contemporaries,"  Diderot  will  say  referring  to 
Bayle,  who  in  fact  was  the  thinker  who  served  the 
encyclopedists  as  master.  Descartes  had  been  but  the 

— Newton,  1642-1727. — Or  in  the  field  of  natural  science :  Harvey, 
1578-1658  ;— Malpighi,  1628-1694  ;— Leuvenhoeck,  1632-1723  ;— 
Svammerdamm,  1637-1680. — Effects  produced  by  their  discoveries. — 
The  telescope  and  the  microscope. — Pascal's  observations  on  the  two 
infinite  quantities  [Cf.  Pensees] ; — physiology  in  Bossuet's  Traite  de 
la  connaisance  de  Dieu ; — astronomy  in  La  Bruyere's  Caracieres 
[Cf .  the  chapter  entitled :  Les  esprils  forts] ; — and  again  in  the 
Entretiens  sur  la  pluralite  des  mondes. — A  passage  in  Perrault's 
Paralleles  [fifth  and  last  dialogue,  edition  of  1696,  p.  41,  &c]. 

2.  THE  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES. — Its  first  establishment,  1666, — and 
its  early  labours  [Cf.  Fontenelle,  and  J.  Bertrand,  L'Academie  des 
sciences]. — The  construction   of  the   Observatory,  1667. — Huyghens 
and  Rcemer  are  invited  to  settle  in  France. — The  laboratory  of  the 
Academy. — The  king  is  present  at  the  dissection  of  an  elephant  from 
the   Versailles  menagerie. — Reorganisation  of  the   Royal  Botanical 
Garden   (Jardin  des   Plantes),    1671. — The   "  second  birth  "  of  the 
Academy,    1699. — The   number  of   academicians  is  increased    from 
sixteen  to  fifty. — The   sections :    Geometry,  Astronomy,  Mechanics, 
Chemistry,  Anatomy,  and  Botany. — The  Academy  after  being  under 
the  precarious  tutelage  of  a  minister,  is  accorded  the  personal  pro- 
tection of  the  sovereign. 

3.  SOME  OF  THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  THIS  REORGANISATION, — or  some 
proofs  of  the  wide  diffusion  of  a  taste  for  science. — The  lectures  on 
chemistry    by   the   apothecary   Lemery    [Cf.   Fontenelle,   Eloge    de 


238    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

harbinger  of  rationalism :  it  is  Bayle  who  is  its  true 
father. 

But  where  will  this  rationalism  find  a  foundation  on 
which  to  take  its  stand  ?  what  will  be  the  model  or  type 
of  certainty?  the  point  of  leverage?  "the  ultimate  im- 
movable basis  ?  "  the  rock  to  which  we  shall  cleave  so 
as  not  to  be  carried  away  and  drowned  in  the  ocean  of 
doubt  ?  They  will  be  found  in  science  is  the  answer  given 
at  the  opportune  moment  by  the  witty  author,  himself 
another  Cartesian,  of  the  Entretiens  sur  la  pluralite  des 
mondes. 

The  nephew  of  Corneille,  —  and  therefore  the  born 
enemy  of  Moliere,  Boileau,  Eacine  and  their  sup- 
porters, —  Fontenelle  was  long  considered  to  be  ade- 

Lemery"].  "Even  the  ladies,  following  the  fashion,  are  bold  enough 
to  show  themselves  at  such  learned  gatherings." — They  flock,  too,  to 
the  dissections  practised  by  Du  Verney ; — as  do  numerous  foreigners 
[Cf.  Fontenelle,  Eloge  de  Du  Verney]. — Corroborative  evidence 
furnished  by  the  memoirs  of  Mme  de  Staal-Delaunay. — The  chemical 
experiments  of  the  Due  d'Orleans  [Cf.  Samt-Simon,  ix.,  p.  268,  &c. ; — 
and  Fontenelle,  Eloge  de  Homberg]. — The  conception  of  science  takes 
definite  shape, — and  the  idea  of  progress  is  evolved  [Cf  Brunetiere, 
Etudes  critiques,  v.]. 

VI.— Charles  Perrault  [Paris,  1628 ;  f  1703,  Paris.] 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Perrault's  memoirs  published  for  the  first  time 
in  1759  ; — P.  Clement,  Lettres,  Instructions  et  Memoires  de  Colbert 
particularly    vol.   v. ;  —  Niceron,   Hommes    illustres,   vol.    xliii. ;  — 
d'Alembert,  Eloge  de  Charles  Perrault,  in  his  Eloges  academiques ; 
— Sainte-Beuve,  Charles  Perrault  in  his  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  v., 
and  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  i. ; — Ch.  Giraud,  Lettre  critique  preceding 
his    edition  of    the    Conies    des    Fees,    1864 ; — Arvede   Barine,   Les 
Contes  de  Perrault  in  the  Bevue  des  Deux  Mondes,  December  1, 
1890. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. 

A.  Chief  Clerk  of  the  Works. — Perrault's  family ; — the  Boileau 
family  and  the  Perrault  family ; — Pierre  Perrault,  the  translator  of 
the  Secchia  rapita,  1678  [Cf.  Racine  in  his  preface  to  Iphigenie~\  ; 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     239 

quately  depicted  in  the  Cydias  sketched  by  La  Bruyere, 
"  a  mixture  of  the  pedant  and  the  Precieux,"  whose 
originality  scarcely  went  further,  to  continue  to  quote 
La  Bruyere,  "  than  merely  avoiding  the  profession  of 
other  people's  ideas  while  contriving  to  be  of  the  opinion 
of  somebody."  And  all  these  criticisms  were  deserved. 
Fontenelle's  tragedy  Aspar  is  only  known  to  us  by  an 
epigram  of  Bacine,  but  we  have  his  Eclogues  and  his 
Lettres  galantes  du  chevalier  d'Her  .  .  .  What  was 
Boileau  to  think  of  such  a  passage  as  the  following : 
"  We  have  been  told,  sir,  that  you  have  become  a  philoso- 
pher, but  that  your  philosophy  is  the  most  extraordinary 
in  the  world.  You  do  not  believe  that  colours  exist !  .  .  . 
I  broached  the  matter  one  day  with  Mme  de  B , 

—  Nicolas  Perrault  ;  Claude  Perrault,  architect  and  doctor  [Cf. 
Fontenelle,  Eloge  de  Claude  Perraulf]  ;  —  Charles  Perrault ; — his 
early  studies  and  his  early  verses; — his  "travesty"  of  the  sixth 
book  of  the  Aeneid ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  revival  of 
burlesque. — Colbert  appoints  Perrault  secretary  of  the  Academy  of 
Inscriptions ; — Perrault  gives  him  the  idea  for  the  first  Academy 
of  Sciences ;  —  he  is  charged,  together  with  Chapelain,  with  draw- 
ing up  the  "List  of  the  King's  Bounties."  —  He  is  given  the 
control  of  the  Public  Works; — his  labours; — he  suggests  to  his 
brother  the  colonnade  of  the  Louvre ; — his  disappointments  and  his 
retirement. — His  "  occasional  pieces." — The  Saint-Paulin,  1686 ; — 
and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  revival  of  the  epopee.  —The  Siecle  de 
Louis  le  Grand,  1687  ; — and  of  the  double  claim  on  our  attention  of 
this  work  ; — first  as  having  suggested  to  Voltaire  his  Siecle  de  Louis 
XIV. : — and  secondly  as  having  given  rise  to  the  quarrel  between 
the  ancients  and  moderns. 

B.  Perrault  as  the  Apologist  of  the  Moderns. — The  Paralleles  des 
Anciens  et  des  Modernes,  1688-1696. — Emotion  aroused  by  these 
dialogues  ; — Boileau  and  Perrault ; — Perrault  and  La  Bruyere ; — 
Perrault's  thesis  and  the  object  of  his  work  [Cf.  below  "  THE 

QUAKREL   BETWEEN   THE   ANCIENTS  AND   MODERNS."] — Perrault's  polite 

and  courteous  attitude  hi  the  discussion. — Moreover  that  there  is 
much  that  is  excellent  in  the  Paralleles. — That  in  reading  this  book, 
only  the  opinions  of  the  Abb^  of  the  Dialogues  should  be  imparted 


240     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

who  is  a  friend  of  yours,  and  who  is  really  pained  at  your 
case.  She  would  strangle  Descartes  if  she  had  him  in 
her  power.  And  it  must  be  admitted  that  his  philo- 
sophy is  a  scurvy  doctrine :  it  strips  the  ladies  of  their 
charms.  If  there  be  no  such  thing  as  a  complexion, 
what  becomes  of  the  roses  and  lilies  of  our  beauties  !  It 
will  be  useless  for  you  to  tell  them  that  colours  are  in  the 
eyes  of  those  who  look,  and  not  in  the  objects  ;  the  ladies 
will  not  permit  their  complexion  to  be  dependent  on  the 
eyes  of  other  persons ;  they  intend  that  it  shall  be  their 
own  property,  and  if  there  is  no  colour  at  night  M.  de 

M is  nicely  caught,  for  he  has  fallen  in  love  with 

Mile  D.  L.  G.  on  account  of  her  beautiful  complexion 
and  has  married  her."  Voiture  has  written  nothing  more 

to  Perrault.- — Reconciliation  between  Perrault  and  Boileau. — The 
publication  of  the  Hommes  illustres  de  ce  siecle,  1696-1700. 

C.  Perrault  as  a  ivriter  of  fairy  stories  ; — and  that  d'Alembert  in 
his  eulogy  of  Perrault  does  not  even  mention  his  fairy  stories ; — 
an  omission  that  is  none  to  d' Alembert's  credit ; — since  Cendrillon 
and  the  Chat  botte  are  the  best  things  Perrault  ever  wrote ; — 
and  from  1680  to  1715  no  kind  of  literature  was  produced  in 
more  abundance  than  fairy  stories. — Of  some  of  Perrault's  rivals ; 
— Mme  d'Aulnoy,  the  author  of  the  Oiseau  bleu ; — Mile  de  la 
Force ; — Mile  Lheritier ; — [Cf .  Histoire  litteraire  des  femmes  francoises 
by  the  abbe  de  la  Porte,  Paris,  1769]  ; — and  whether  this  taste  for  fairy 
stories  should  not  be  connected  with  that,  manifested  at  the  same 
time,  for  oriental  tales  ? — The  translation  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  1704- 
1708. — Do  Perrault's  fairy  tales  deserve  the  praise  that  has  been 
bestowed  on  them  ? — Sunt  bona,  sunt  mala  qucedam,  mediocria 
plura. — The  naivete  of  Perrault's  tales  only  exists  in  the  imagi- 
nation of  those  whom  they  amuse ; — La  Fontaine's  remark  on 
Perrault's  Peau  d'ane  ; — Perrault's  subjects  are  entertaining  in  them- 
selves ; — but  he  has  chosen  to  present  them  in  a  style  devoid  of  charm. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Perrault's  works  comprise :  (1)  a  certain  number 
of  occasional  pieces,  such  as  the  Discours  sur  ^acquisition  de 
Durikerque  par  le  Boi,  1663,  or  his  Parnasse  pousse  a  bout,  sur  la 
difficulle  de  decrire  la  conquete  de  la  Franclie-Comte,  1668; — (2)  his 
Poeme  sur  la  Peinture,  1668 ;  his  Saint-Paulin,  1686  ;  and  his  Siecle 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     '241 

"  precious,"  Balzac  nothing  more  affected.  But  neither 
Balzac  nor  Voiture  were  acquainted  with  the  art  of  convey- 
ing a  scientific  truth  in  a  similar  affected  or  "  precious" 
dress  :  and  to  have  done  this  constitutes  Fontenelle's 
originality.  He  may  be  said  indeed  to  serve  up  Cartesian- 
ism,  astronomy,  physics,  and  natural  history  in  madrigals ; 
and  from  this  point  of  view  the  Entretiens  sur  la  pluralite 
des  mondes  is  a  masterpiece  unique  of  its  kind.  In  gallant 
and  insinuating  fashion  the  work  introduces  into  literature 
for  the  first  time  an  entire  order  of  ideas  and  facts  which 
before  had  had  no  part  in  it.  Fontenelle  devotes  his 
ingenuity  to  fostering  the  new  preoccupations  that  are 
beginning  to  steal  into  men's  minds.  His  effort  is  suc- 
cessful, and,  owing  to  his  footing  in  society,  these  novel 

de  Louis  le  Grand,  1687 ; — (3)  his  Paralleles,  five  dialogues  in  four 
vols.,  published,  as  has  been  said,  from  1688  to  1696  ;  to  which  must 
be  joined,  as  being  conceived  in  the  same  spirit,  his  Homines  illustres, 
1696-1700 ; — and  finally  (4)  his  fairy  tales : — La  Belle  au  bois  dor- 
mant, Le  petit  Chaperon  rouge,  La  Barbe  bleue,  Le  Chat  botte,  Les 
Fees,  Cendrillon,  Riquet  a  la  houppe,  Le  Petit  Poucet  in  prose ; — and 
Griselidis,  Peau  d'dne,  and  Les  souhaits  ridicules  in  verse. 

They  were  published  for  the  first  time  separately  in  Holland 
between  1694  and  1711  ;  and  in  volume  form  by  Barbin,  1697-1698, 
the  author  being  given  as  Perrault  d'Armancour,  son  of  Charles 
Perrault. 

There  are  innumerable  modern  editions  of  the  fairy  stories. 

The  Oiseau  bleu,  which  is  frequently  adjoined  to  them,  is  by  Mine 
d'Aulnoy  ;  and  Finette  ou  I'Adroite  Princesse  by  Mile  Lheritier. 

VII.— Jean  de  la  Bruyere  [Paris,  1645  ;  f  1696,  Versailles]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Suard,  Notice  sur  la  vie  et  les  ecrits  de  La 
Bruyere,  1781,  and  printed  at  the  head  of  several  modern  editions. — 
Walckenaer,  Etude  sur  La  Bruyere,  preceding  his  edition  of  the 
Caracteres,  Paris,  1845  ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  litteraires,  vol.  i. ; 
Nouveaux  Lundis,  vol.  i.  and  vol.  x. ; — A.  Vinet,  Moralistes  frangais 
des  XVIe  et  XVIIe  siecles,  Paris,  1839; — Edouard  Fournier,  La 
comedie  de  La  Bruyere,  Paris,  1866 ; — Etienne  Allaire,  La  Bruyere, 
dans  la  maison  de  Conde,  Paris,  1866. 

17 


242     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

matters  become  topics  of  fashionable  conversation.  Under 
these  circumstances  it  may  be  asked  what  is  there  that  is 
still  wanting  to  the  victory  of  Cartesianism  and  even  of 
science  itself  ?  What  is  wanting  is  exactly  and  solely  the 
element  which  the  quarrel  between  the  ancients  and 
moderns  is  about  to  supply. 

Charles  Perrault,  a  man  of  wit  and  merit — who  can  only 
be  reproached  with  having,  like  Scarron,  begun  his  literary 
career  by  "  travestying "  Virgil  and  with  being  more 
learned  in  "buildings"  than  in  literature — conceives  the 
idea  of  flattering  his  king  in  somewhat  novel  fashion. 
He  can  hit  on  no  better  notion  than  to  call  his  century 
the  "  Century  of  Louis  the  Great."  Is  there  not  the 
century  of  Augustus  or  the  century  of  Pericles  ?  But  is 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. 

A.  The  Moralist. — La  Bruyere's  birth  ;— and  that  he  was  the  only 
one  of  the  great  writers  of  his  time  who  was  acquainted  with  four  or 
five  languages,  including  German  ; — his  family  and  his  youth  [Cf. 
Servois,  Notice  biograpliique]. — He  is  appointed  treasurer  of  the 
finances  for  the  district  of  Caen  ; — he  enters  the  household  of  Conde 
in  the  capacity  of  tutor  to  the  young  Duke  of  Bourbon,  1684. — The 
spectacle  presented  by  the  Conde  household  [Cf.  Saint- Simon, 
Me  moires.']  — La  Bruyere's  reactions  with  Bossuet ; — and  with  Boileau. 
— The  alleged  "  romance  "  in  La  Bruyere's  life  ; — and  that  it  has  no 
bearing  on  literary  history. — Was  the  pean  of  La  Bruyere's  book 
suggested  him  by  Mile  de  Montpensier's  Galerie  de  Portraits  ? — 
or  by  the  "  portraits "  scattered  through  the  novels  of  Mile  de 
Scuderi  ? — Improbability  of  this  supposition. — On  the  other  hand 
he  was  greatly  influenced  by  La  Rochefoucauld, — Pascal, — and 
Malebranche  [Cf.  Auguste  Damien,  Etude  sur  La  Bruyere  et  Male- 
branche,  Paris,  1866]. — Whether  the  characters  of  Theophrastus  only 
served  him  as  a  pretext ; — or  whether  he  was  mistaken  as  to  their 
literary  value  ; — as  was  Boileau  as  to  that  of  the  Treatise  of  Longinus 
on  the  Sublime  ? — The  first  edition  of  the  Caracteres,  1688  ; — and 
that  it  contains  barely  half  a  dozen  portraits  ; — maxims  predominating 
in  it ; — and  La  Bruyere  merely  emulating  La  Rochefoucauld  in  his 
book  as  at  first  produced. 

Is  there  a  "  plan  "  in  the  Caracteres  ; — and  that  in  any  case  it  was 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE     243 

it  enough  to  say  that  the  century  of  Louis  XIV.  is  in  no 
wise  inferior  to  that  of  Augustus  or  that  of  Pericles? 
Perrault  holds  that  it  is  not.  The  century  of  Louis  XIV. 
is  not  the  equal  of  those  of  Pericles  and  Augustus  ;  it 
surpasses  them  !  and  in  proportion  as  the  sovereign 
himself  is  the  superior  of  Augustus  and  Pericles,  so 
Bossuet,  for  instance,  is  the  superior  of  Demosthenes, 
Moliere  the  superior  of  Plautus  or  Terence,  Racine  the 
superior  of  Euripides,  so  France  is  in  advance  of  Athens 
or  Borne,  and  so  in  general  the  moderns  are  superior  to 
the  ancients.  In  this  way  begins  or  is  fomented  a  dis- 
pute of  which  Perrault  himself  did  not  foresee  the  con- 
sequences. He  merely  proposed  to  flatter  his  sovereign, 
and,  satisfied  with  having  acted  like  a  good  courtier,  he 

not  perceived  by  Boileau  ;  —  and  that  it  is  certain  that  if  the  chapter 
du  Merite  personnel  were  to  follow  that  de  VHomme  ;  —  or  the 
chapter  de  la  Conversation  to  precede  that  du  Cceur  ;  —  it  does  not 
appear  that  the  economy  of  the  book  would  be  affected  in  conse- 
quence. —  This  fact,  however,  does  not  prove  that  the  chapter  des 
Esprits  forts  is  not  a  precaution  ;  —  on  the  contrary,  in  a  certain 
sense,  it  may  be  maintained  with  the  author  that  all  the  rest 
of  the  work  leads  up  to  this  chapter.  —  The  friend  and  protege 
of  Bossuet,  the  future  author  of  the  Dialogues  sur  le  quietisme, 
purposed  writing  a  work  of  apologetics  ;  —  or  at  any  rate  he  aimed 
at  being  a  moralist  ;  —  as  plainly  appears,  moreover,  from  a  careful 
reading  of  the  first  edition  of  the  book  ;  —  or  again  of  the  Dis- 
cours  sur  Theophraste.  —  La  Bruyere  proposed  to  strike  a  blow 
at  once  at  the  moderns  and  at  the  libertines,  —  as  if  he  had  per- 
ceived the  solidarity  of  the  two  causes  ;  —  he  proposed  to  reply  at 
the  same  time  to  the  Perrault's  Siecle  de  Louis  le  Grand  ;  —  and  to 
the  Entretiens  sur  la  pluralite  des  mondes  ;—  and  this  double  refer- 
ence to  current  controversies  stood  him  perhaps  in  as  good  stead 
as  his  talent  in  the  early  editions  of  his  book. 

B.  The  Artist.  —  There  was  an  "  artist,"  however,  inJLa_Bruy_erej27 
or,  as  would  be  said  at  the  present  day,  a  stylist  ;—° 


oyershadowed_t,hp  moroJigf.  ;  —  as  is  proved  by  the  following  strange 
statement  :  —  "  Moses,  Homer,  Plato,  Virgil,  and  Horace  are  superior 
to  other  writers  solely  on  account  of  their  images."  —  Boileau,  who 


244    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

would  have  gone  no  further,  had  not  the  partisans  of 
the  ancients  compelled  him  in  some  sort  to  look  more 
closely  into  his  paradox.  In  reality  it  is  the  idea  of 
progress,  vague  as  yet,  inchoate  or  floating,  scarcely  self- 
conscious,  but  still  this  idea  and  no  other  that  pervades  the 
Paralleles  des  anciens  et  des  modernes.  It  is  in  vain  that 
Racine,  that  La  Bruyere  in  his  Caracteres,  1688-1696, 
that  Boileau  in  his  Reflexions  critiques  sur  Longin,  1694, 
endeavour  to  stem  the  current,  to  exert  a  contrary 
influence.  The  witty  retort  is  made  them  that  they 
themselves  adduce  proof  in  their  works  of  the  superiority 
they  are  vexed  should  be  accorded  the  moderns.  "  How 
much,  exclaims  Perrault,  does  the  public  prefer  to  the 
characters  of  the  divine  Theophrastus  the  reflections  of 

inclined  to  this  opinion,  when  expressing  it  had  at  least  made  the 
restriction  : 

Before  starting  to  write,  learn  to  think. 

La  Bruyere's  style  ; — and  that  while  lacking  continuity, — it  is  never- 
theless oratorical ; — in  the  sense  that  the  Caracteres  are  the  repertory 
of  classic  rhetoric. — There  are  to  be  found  in  it  every  one  of  the 
"  movements  "  enumerated  in  treatises  on  rhetoric :  the  interrogation, 
the  exclamation,  the  suspension,  the  digression,  the  interpellation, 
the  adjuration; — every  one  of  the  "figures":  the  extenuation,  the 
hyperbole,  the  synecdoche,  the  catachresis,  the  prosopopoeia ; — 
every  one  of  the  "  modalities  "  or  modulations  from  irony  to  emphasis. 
— This  rhetoric,  however,  is  saved  from  its  own  excesses ; — by  its 
tendency  to  realism  ; — that  is  to  the  close  imitation  of  nature  ; — and, 
in  this  connection,  of  the  "  naturalism  "  of  La  Bruyere. — How  careful 
he  is  to  thoroughly  observe  his  models ; — to  note  in  them  their 
respective,  individual  characteristics  ; — and  to  see  that  each  portrait 
only  fits  the  character  it  is  intended  to  represent. — The  circumstance 
that  La  Bruyere's  characters  were  often  the  portraits  of  real  persons  ; 
— and  without  examining  his  intention  to  indulge  in  personal 
satire, — that  where  the  identity  of  these  persons  can  be  traced 
the  resemblance  of  the  portrait  to  the  original  furnishes  proof  of 
the  truth  to  nature  of  La  Bruyere's  depictions. — That  further  proof 
of  his  truthfulness  to  nature  is  found  in  his  pessimism; — and,  in 


THE   NATIONALIZATION    OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE     245 

the  modern  who  has  given  us  a  translation  of  them !  " 
[Cf.  Paralleles,  third  dialogue,  2nd  edition,  1693] .  To 
the  side  of  the  moderns  flock  the  rising  generation  and 
the  women,  to  say  nothing  of  the  members  of  the 
Academy,  of  whom  barely  six  are  supporters  of  Racine 
and  Boileau.  Society  follows  suit.  On  all  sides  it  is  urged 
that  if  the  matter  be  strictly  examined  it  is  found  that  it 
is  we,  the  so-called  moderns,  who  are  really  the  ancients. 
Our  knowledge  is  more  extensive  than  that  of  our  fathers, 
and  the  knowledge  of  our  sons  will  be  more  extensive 
still.  Long  enough,  and  indeed  too  long,  have  "men, 
garbed  in  black  and  wearing  the  pedant's  cap,  held  up 
to  us  the  works  of  the  ancients,  not  merely  as  being  all 
that  is  most  beautiful  in  the  world,  but  as  embodying 

this  connection,  a  reference  once  again  to  the  connection  between 
pessimism  and  realism. — The  fact  that  La  Bruyere  is  rather  a 
melancholy  writer  than  otherwise, — is  due  to  his  having  endeavoured 
to  see  things  as  they  are, — in  order  to  render  them  as  they  are. — He 
may  be  suspected,  however,  of  having  seen  things  uglier  than  they 
are  ; — or  more  grotesque  than  they  are ; — in  order  to  make  them  lend 
themselves  to  fine  effects  of  style ; — and  in  this  way  of  having  been 
led  by  the  very  artifices  of  his  rhetoric  into  the  exaggeration  he  desired 
to  avoid. 

C.  The  Satirist. — Of  the  interest  of  this  question  owing  to  its 
bearing  on  the  solution  of  another  question ; — that,  namely,  of  the 
philosophic  import  of  La  Bruyere's  book. — The  famous  saying :  "  A 
man  who  is  born  a  Christian  and  a  Frenchman  feels  himself  shackled 
when  attempting  satire." — The  fourth  edition  of  the  Caracteres,  1689 ; — 
and  of  the  growing  daring  of  La  Bruyere  up  to  the  ninth  edition,  1696. 
— It  must  be  noted,  however,  that  to  spare  nobody  is  almost  equivalent 
to  attacking  nobody. — When  a  writer  scoffs  alike  at  men  and  women, 
— at  courtiers  and  townsmen,  at  financiers  and  at  the  magistracy, — 
at  the  pious  and  at  the  libertines  ; — he  is  doubtless  a  pessimist ; — but 
he  is  not  a  revolutionary  [Cf.  Taine,  Nouveaux  essais  de  critique 
et  d'histoire]. — This  observation  once  made,  it  may  and  it  should  be 
admitted : — that  La  Bruvere'a  iniiHiffftlffT*  is  rlppppr  thnn  thnt,  *f 
L:i  l-'ontuim- :  tli.-it  lie  ivrcnirilcil  liim-'-lf  less  easily  than  Molu-iv  to 
the  society  of  his  time  ; — and  that  the  dawning  is  seen  in  his  writings 


246     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

the  very  idea  of  the  Beautiful  "  !  The  moment  has  come 
to  escape  from  this  servitude.  And  the  emancipation, 
which  is  speedily  an  accomplished  fact,  is  followed  by 
three  consequences. 

Men's  curiosity  takes  an  altered  direction.  Forsaking 
the  study  and  meditation  of  the  works  of  the  ancients, 
it  becomes  exclusively  bent  on  the  observation  of  the 
realities  of  contemporary  existence.  Those  who  were 
scoffed  at  in  the  Femmes  Savantes  have  their  revenge. 
"Almost  infinite,"  writes  Perrault  in  his  fifth  and  last 
dialogue,  "  are  the  discoveries  that  have  been  made  in  our 
century  "  ;  and  it  is  a  fact,  that  while  in  general  the 
historians  of  our  literature  have  dated  wrongly  the 
triumph  of  Cartesianism,  placing  it  thirty  or  forty 

of  a  pity  that  is  absent  from  those  of  Boileau. — It  is  the  idea  of 
humanity  that  is  beginning  to  take  shape. 

Of  some  other  merits  of  the  Caracteres ; — and  in  particular  of 
certain  portraits  and  narratives ; — which  herald  the  approaching  vogue 
of  the  novel  [Cf.  Lesage's  Diable  Boiteux]. — The  transition  is  accom- 
plished in  La  Bruyere's  book  from  character  as  it  is  understood  in  the 
comedy  of  Moliere  ; — to  characters  as  they  are  about  to  be  understood 
in  the  novel  of  manners. — La  Bruyere's  enemies. — He  replies  to  them 
in  his  Discours  de  reception  a  I'Academie,  1693  ; — and  in  the  preface  to 
this  discourse. — He  also  essays  on  this  occasion  to  define  the  "  plan  " 
of  his  book ; — but  rather  late  in  the  day,  imitating  in  this  respect 
La  Eochefoucauld  in  the  preliminary  notice  to  his  Maximes. — He  is 
successful  in  showing  that  all  the  other  chapters  are  subordinate  to 
the  last ; — but  not  that  they  observe  a  fixed  order  or  gradation,  or 
that  they  have  a  constant  bearing  on  his  principal  idea. — That  it  is 
worth  while  noting,  moreover,  that  his  principal  idea  is  wholly  a  lay 
idea ; — La  Bruyere's  religion  being  a  degree  less  Christian  than  the 
religion  of  Malebranche ; — if,  indeed,  it  may  not  be  termed  a  purelj7 
natural  religion. — The  Dialogues  sur  le  quietisme ; — and  that  they 
added  nothing  to  the  glory  of  La  Bruyere. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — We  have  mentioned  all  the  works  of  La  Bruyere. 

The  editions  to  be  consulted  are : — the  first  edition,  1688,  reprinted 
in  the  Cabinet  du  bibliophile,  1868  ; — all  the  following  editions  down 
to  the  ninth  inclusive,  which  appeared  in  1696. 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE     247 

years  too  early,  on  the  other  hand  they  have  placed 
thirty  or  forty  years  too  late  what  may  be  termed  the 
advent  of  the  scientific  spirit  [Cf.  on  this  point  F. 
Cournot,  Considerations  sur  la  marche  des  idees,  vol.  i., 
book  iii.] .  In  reality,  the  reorganisation  or  the  renewal 
of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  in  1699  is  almost  as  important 
and  significant  a  date  in  French  intellectual  history  as 
that  of  the  founding  of  the  French  Academj^  in  1635. 
Boileau  may  compose  if  he  chooses  his  Satire  desfemmes  : 

Good  !  it  is  that  blue -stocking 
Of  whom  Roberval  has  a  high  opinion  and  whom  Sauveur  frequents  ; 

but  nevertheless  the  very  women  henceforth  take  an 
interest  in  geometry,  and  the  spectacle  of  a  dissection, 

We  shall  confine  ourselves  to  citing  among  modern  editions  : — 
Walckenaer's  edition,  1845  ; — Destailleur's  edition,  1854 ; — G.  Servois' 
edition  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  de  la  France  "  series,  Paris,  1865- 
1878,  Hachette. 

Two  "  classic  "  editions  also  deserve  mention  : — Hemardinquer's 
edition,  1849,  1854,  1872,  1890,  Delagrave  ;— and  Rebelliau's  edition, 
1890,  Hachette. 

VIII. — Frangois  de  Salignac  de  la  Mothe-Fenelon  [chateau 

of  Fenelon,  near  Sarlat,  1651 ;  f  1715,  Cambrai]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Fenelon's  voluminous  correspondence,  printed  at 
the  end  of  the  Versailles  edition,  and  completed  by  a  considerable 
number  of  letters  published  in  1849,  1850,  1853,  1869,  1873,  and 
1892. 

La  Harpe,  Eloge  de  Fenelon,  1771 ; — d'Alembert,  Eloge  de  Fenelon, 
1774  ; — Cardinal  de  Bausset,  Histoire  de  Fenelon,  3rd  edition,  1817  ; 
— Abbe  Gosselin,  Histoire  litteraire  de  Fenelon,  1843  ;— Sainte-Beuve, 
Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  ii.,  1850,  and  vol.  x.,  1854  ; — P.  Janet,  Fenelon 
in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  Fran9ais  "  series,  Paris,  1892  ; — R.  Mahren- 
holz,  Fenelon,  ein  Lebensbild,  Leipsick,  1896. 

O.  Douen,  L 'intolerance  de  Fenelon,  2nd  edition,  Paris,  1875. 

Tabaraud,  Supplement  aux  histoires  de  Bossuet  et  de  Fenelon, 
Paris,  1822  ; — A.  Bonnel,  La  controverse  de  Bossuet  et  de  Fenelon  sur 
le  quieiisme,  Macon,  1850  ; — Algar  Griveau,  Etude  sur  la  condemna- 


248     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

which  Moliere  thought  so  comic  when  he  made  his 
Thomas  Diafoirus  offer  it  to  Angelique  in  the  Malade 
imaginaire,  is  now  a  spectacle  the  sex  flocks  to  witness. 
The  anatomist  Du  Verney,  when  introducing  Mile  de 
Launay  to  the  Duchesse  du  Maine,  explains  that  "  of 
all  the  young  women  of  France,  it  is  she  who  is  best 
acquainted  with  the  human  body,"  and  the  statement  is 
considered  perfectly  natural.  On  the  other  hand  it  is 
held  to  be  extraordinary  that  men  should  still  be  found 
who,  while  priding  themselves  on  their  judgment  and 
taste,  confess  to  an  admiration  for  Pindar.  We  are  the 
men  of  the  present  day,  and  what  we  are  chiefly  concerned 
to  know  is  the  world  in  which  we  live  and  to  which  we 
belong  !  And  what  can  Aristotle  the  Stagyrite  and 


tion  du  livre  des  Maximes  des  saints,  Paris,  1878 ;  —  Guerrier, 
Madame  Guyon,  sa  vie  et  sa  doctrine,  Paris,  1881 ; — Crousle,  Fenelon 
et  Bossuet,  Paris,  1894 ; — abbe  Delmont,  Fenelon  et  Bossuet,  Lyons, 
1896. 

Emmanuel  de  Broglie,  Fenelon  a  Cambrai,  Paris,  1884. 

Consult  too,  but  cautiously,  Saint-Simon's  Memoires  ; — the  letters 
of  the  Duchesse  d'Orleans  ; — and  La  Beaumelle,  Memoires  et  corre- 
spondance  de  Madame  de  Maintenon. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER.— He  is  a  further  example  of  a 
writer  who  does  not  resemble  his  style  ; — and  the  real  Fenelon  was 
just  as  hard,  inflexible  and  overbearing  as  the  style  of  Telemaque  is 
mellifluous  and  even  unctuous. — If  there  be  added  to  this  essential 
characteristic  a  very  high  idea  of  himself,  of  his  family,  and  of  his 
personal  dignity  ;  a  natural  preciosity  displayed  in  a  taste  for  strange 
and  unusual  opinions  ;  and  finally  a  sort  of  insincerity  of  which  he  is 
scarcely  conscious  ; — an  idea  will  be  obtained  of  the  Fenelon  of  the 
first  period  of  his  life, — from  whom  the  second  Fenelon  was  only 
evolved  very  late  in  his  career  ; — and  the  idea  will  be  incomplete  since 
Fenelon  is  a  strangely  complex  and  fluctuating  character  ; — still  it 
will  allow  of  his  being  understood  ; — and  will  give  a  sort  of  unity  to 
his  life,  his  role,  and  his  work. 

A.  Fenelon 's  early  years. — His  family  ; — his  early  studies  ;  Cahors, 
the  college  du  Plessis,  and  the  seminary  of  Saint-Sulpice. — His 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     249 

Cicero,  who  hailed  from  Arpinum,  know  on  this  subject 
or  teach  us  in  connection  with  it  ? 

The  influence  of  these  new  ideas,  or  more  accurately  of 
the  new  direction  taken  by  men's  curiosity,  may  quickly 
be  traced  even  in  the  partisans  of  antiquity  themselves, 
in  the  Caracteres  of  La  Bruyere,  for  instance,  or  in 
Fenelon's  Telemaque,  the  respective  dates  of  which  are 
1696  as  regards  the  last  edition  of  the  Caracteres,  and 
1699  for  Telemaque.  It  was  La  Bruyere  who  was  the 
first  to  be  attacked  or  railed  at  by  the  moderns,  while 
as  for  Fenelon  he  was  destined  to  remain  faithful 
to  the  ancients  to  the  end  of  his  life.  And  yet  in 
what  direction  did  the  interests  of  La  Bruyere  really 
lie  ?  He  has  told  us  explicitly  in  a  very  curious  passage 

youthful  letters  [to  Bossuet  and  to  the  Marquise  de  Laval]  ; — and 
that  they  are  characterised  by  preciosity. — He  is  put  in  charge  of  the 
Nouvelles  catJioliques. — Is  what  Saint-Simon  says  of  the  intrigues  of 
Fenelon  to  secure  his  advancement  to  be  believed  ? — and  that,  as  a 
general  rule,  it  is  always  prudent  at  any  rate  to  begin  by  disbelieving 
Saint-Simon. — Did  he  even  ever  see  Fenelon  ? — That  in  any  case 
Louis  XIV.  distrusted  Fenelon  to  start  with  ; — never  inviting  him,  in 
spite  of  his  early  successes  as  an  orator  [Cf.  the  Sermon  pour  la  fete 
de  VEpiphanie,  1685],  to  preach  before  the  court  ;— while  after  the 
success  of  his  "  Saintonge  Mission,"  1686-1687,  the  king  declined  to 
confer  on  him  either  the  bishopric  of  Poitiers,  or  that  of  La  Bochelle. 
— How  Fenelon  triumphed  over  his  sovereign's  prejudice  against  him  ; 
— thanks  to  the  intervention  in  his  behalf  of  the  Due  de  Beauvilliers, 
of  Mme  de  Maintenon, — and  of  Bossuet. — He  belonged  to  the  group 
of  persons  who  formed  Bossuet's  habitual  society. — At  the  request  of 
Bossuet  he  writes  his  Refutation  du  Traite  de  la  nature  et  de  la 
grace,  directed  against  Malebranche. — He  is  appointed  tutor  to  the 
royal  children,  1689. 

B.  His  early  works. — The  Sermon  pour  la  fete  de  VEpiphanie,  1685, 
— and  that  it  almost  marks  an  epoch  in  pulpit  eloquence. — Seduc- 
tion, charm,  and  elevation  of  Fenelon's  manner. — The  Traite  de 
V education  des  filles,  1686  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  progress 
made  since  Moliere  and  his  Femmes  savantes. — Telemaque,  1693- 
1694  ? — and  of  the  principal  questions  it  raises. — What  was  Fenelon's 


250    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

of  his  book,  which  is  not  a  book,  but  the  collected  fruit 
of  his  direct  and  close  observation  of  his  contempo- 
raries. "  Thej^unse--affioag-men  infinite  combinations 
of  power,  of  favour,. -of-  genius,  of  riches,  of  dignities^ 
of  birth,  of  strength,  of  industry,  of  capacity,  of  vice-,  of 
weakness,  of  virtue,  of  stupidity,  of  poverty,  of  powerless- 
of  humbleness,  and  of  vilen&ss_  These  elements, 


mingled  together  in  a  thousand  different  manners  and 
mutually  compensated,  give  rise  to  the  different  classes  and 
the  different  social  grades."  And  we  declare  in  turn,  that 
in  his  Caracteres,  it  is  these  thousand  combinations,  these 
different  classes  and  different  social  grades  that  he  delights 
to  depict,  and  no  longer  "  man  in  general."  He  does 
more  than  take  nature  for  his  model ;  in  reality  he  goes 


intention  in  writing  the  work  ? — In  writing  it  did  he  merely  take  an 
artistic  satisfaction  in  so  "disfiguring"  antiquity  as  to  bring  it  into 
accordance  with  his  own  conception  of  the  period  ? — or  was  it  his 
intention  to  indulge  in  satire  ?  [Cf.  the  Lettre  a  Louis  X.IV.~\  ; — or, 
again,  was  his  purpose  to  set  forth  his  scheme  of  government  ? — How 
far  was  Fenelon  responsible  for  the  publication  of  the  book  in  1699  ? 
— and,  in  this  connection,  of  strange  sentence  in  his  Memoire  in 
which  he  exonerates  himself  from  all  responsibility  in  the  matter  ; — 
"  he  preferred,  he  says,  to  allow  it  to  appear  in  a  deformed  and  dis- 
torted shape,  than  to  issue  it  as  he  had  written  it." — Whether  the 
unfaithful  copyist  whom  he  accuses  of  having  stolen  his  manuscript 
was  not  well  inspired  in  only  publishing  it  after  Fenelon  had  been 
appointed  to  the  see  of  Cambrai  in  1695  ? —  [Cf.  L.  Genay,  Etude  lii- 
teraire  ei  morale  sur  le  Telemaque,  Paris,  1876 ;  and  L.  Boulve,  De 
rhellenieme  chez  Fenelon,  Paris,  1897] . 

C.  The  great  controversies. — The  Quietist  controversy  [Cf.  above, 
BOSSUET]. — Difficulties  of  Fenelon's  situation. — His  dilatory  tactics; 
— and  beneath  his  apparent  gentleness, — his  unconquerable  resistance. 
— The  essence  of  the  controversy  and  the  question  of  pure  or  dis- 
interested love. — The  seduction  the  doctrine  would  exercise  on  Fenelon 
given  his  aristocratic  and  singular  nature. — The  quarrel  becomes 
complicated  by  political  considerations. — Fenelon's  ambition, — and 
that  it  is  superabundantly  proved  ; — by  his  Lettre  a  Louis  XIV. ; — by 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     251 

to  current  events  for  his  inspiration,  and  his  one  ambition 
is  to  give  a  vivid  picture  of  "the  manners  of  his  time." 
We  touch  here  on  the  chief  reason  of  the  immense  success 
of  his  book.  People  recognise  their  neighbours  in  its 
pages.  Such  an  one  is  Diphile,  such  an  one  Theodecte. 
Everybody  can  put  a  name  to  Irene,  to  Lais,  or  to  Cesonie. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  book  is  amusing,  that  it  is  instruc- 
tive :  it  teaches  in  how  many  ways  one  man  may  differ 
from  another.  But  Lns  Bruyere  complains  that  "  great 
subjects  are  forbidden  him  "  ;  five  or  six  years  pass  and 
Fenelon  essays  them  in  his  Telemaque. 

I  do  not  believe  there  exists  a  book,  a  celebrated  and 
justly  celebrated  book,  in  which  antiquity  is  presented  us 
in  a  falser  light  than  in  Telemaque  ;  and  I  do  not  except 

Telemaque  and  by  his  Tables  de  Chaulnes. — The  utopia  of  Fenelon  ; 
— and  its  retrograde  character. — Is  it  to  be  regretted  that  his  pupil 
did  not  reign  ? — His  condemnation,  March  12,  1699,  and  the  Letters 
Patent  of  August  14th. — His  exile  at  Cambrai. — In  his  exile  he  con- 
tinues to  keep  in  communication  with  his  party  [Cf .  his  correspondence 
with  the  Duke  of  Burgundy],  and  to  occupy  himself  with  the  scheme 
of  government  he  looks  forward  to  being  able  to  put  in  force. — His 
conflict  with  the  Jansenists ; — and  of  the  unscrupulousness  he  dis- 
played in  the  course  of  it. — His  attitude  in  this  instance  may  be 
regarded  as  his  revenge  for  the  defeat  he  had  suffered ; — and  in  any 
case  as  wholly  characteristic  of  one  side  of  his  policy. — Imprudence  of 
this  policy ; — seeing  that  the  ruin  of  Port-Royal  contributed  as  much 
as  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  to  the  progress  of  libertinism. 
— Hopes  conceived  by  Fenelon  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  Dauphin 
[Cf.  his  letter  of  April  14,  1711]  ; — it  is  at  this  juncture  that  he  com- 
poses his  Tables  de  Chaulnes. — Death  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy 
[February,  1712]. 

D.  Feneloris  la#t  years. — Although  the  hopes  that  had  buoyed  him 
up  for  the  last  fifteen  years  are  shattered,  he  does  not  abandon  him- 
self to  despair ; — but  on  the  contrary  accepts  his  fate  as  a  special 
manifestation  in  his  interest  of  the  will  of  God  [Cf.  his  correspond- 
ence for  the  years  1712,  1713,  1714]. — His  remark  to  the  Due  de 
Chaulnes :  "  My  dear  Duke,  let  us  die  without  regret "  [March,  1712]  ; — 
and  it  may  be  said  that  from  this  moment  his  sole  and  ardent  concern 


252     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

even  the  Cyrus  or  the  Clelie  of  Mile  de  Scuderi,  to  whom 
moreover,  it  owes  as  much  as  to  Sophocles  or  Homer 
Bossuet  esteemed  the  work  to  be  "unworthy"  of  a  priest 
and  I  am  much  afraid  that  he  was  right.  Still,  if  th 
book  be  read  as  it  ought  to  be  read,  that  is  with  the  date  a 
which  it  was  written  constantly  in  view,  the  impression  i 
produces  is  at  once  modified.  As  is  the  case  with  Li 
Bruyere,  it  is  "  portraits  "  and  "  contemporary  portraits  ' 
that  Fenelon  draws.  Mentor  is  he  himself,  and  Telemaqui 
is  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  He  lectures  the  prince,  and  lesi 
on  the  subject  of  morality  than  on  that  of  government. 

The  tale  serves  to  pass  off  the  precept. 
He  discusses  problems  of  statesmanship,  and  chimerica 

was  to  prepare  himself  for  death. — Still  he  seeks  distraction ; — an< 
writes  his  Lettre  sur  les  occupations  de  V Academic  francaise,  1714  ;— 
perhaps,  too,  he  revises  his  Dialogues  de  reloquence;  and  his  Trait 
de  Vexistence  de  Dieu. — He  continues  to  combat  the  last  remnants  o 
Jansenism ; — -and  administers  his  diocese  admirably. — He  is  mortally 
stricken,  however ; — and  the  spectacle  of  his  gradual  throwing  off  o 
his  former  self,  year  by  year  and  almost  month  by  month,  is  exceed 
ingly  beautiful. 

E.  Of  some  oilier  of  Fenelori's  works. — The  Lettre  sur  les  occupa 
tions  de  V Academic  francaise ; — and  that  it  bears  traces  of  Fenelon'i 
strange  and  unusual  bent  of  mind. — His  judgment  on  French  poetry  ;— 
which  he  complains  is  the  slave  of  the  laws  of  versification. — His  judg 
ment  on  Moliere. — His  scheme  for  a  treatise  on  history. — His  Dialogue. 
sur  reloquence  [published  in  1718]  ;  and  that  they  contain  all  th< 
objections  against  and  the  criticisms  of  pulpit  eloquence,  which  wil 
afterwards  be  elaborated  by  Voltaire ; — that  in  this  respect  the  worl 
would  have  come  better  from  a  man  of  letters  than  from  a  bishop  ;— 
while  it  is  sovereignly  unjust  as  far  as  it  refers  to  Bourdaloue. — Indeec 
Fenelon  is  already  quite  of  the  view  of  a  modern  critic; — and  th< 
words  of  Edmond  Scherer  might  almost  be  put  into  his  mouth :  "th( 
sermon  is  a  spurious  branch  of  literature." — The  Traite  de  Vefistenct 
de  Dieu ;  and  of  the  influence  of  the  scientific  movement  of  the  timt 
on  the  first  part  of  the  book. — Comparison  between  the  second  parl 
and  Malebranche's  Entretiens  sur  la  metapliysique  ; — and  of  the  eas( 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     253 

though  his  views  may  be  they  are  closely  connected  with 
the  situation  of  France  at  his  time.  In  short,  he  too 
seeks  his  inspiration  in  current  events.  He  has  a  goal  in 
view,  and  a  goal  that  is  neither  distant  nor  indistinct,  but 
in  proximity  and  clearly  defined.  Was  it  possible,  under 
these  conditions,  that  Telemaque  should  not  have  aroused 
the  eager  curiosity  of  its  writer's  contemporaries,  that  they 
should  not  have  seen  that  they  themselves  were  its  subject 
matter,  that  they  should  not  have  essayed  to  gather  from 
the  lessons  of  the  tutor  what  manner  of  government  would 
be  that  of  his  royal  pupil  ?  For  these  reasons  Fenelon's 
"  novel "  is  the  outcome,  as  were  the  Caracteres,  of  the 
newly  developed  thirst  for  knowledge.  It  is  the  book  of  a 
reformer,  and  this  despite  the  fact  that  the  aristocratic  ideal 

with  which  more  than  one  passage  in  it  might  be  made  out  to  have 
pantheistic  leanings. 

After  what  precedes  it  is  incumbent  to  add  : — that,  while  in  Fene- 
lon's case  the  style  is  not  "  the  man  "  ; — for  the  only  point  of  resem- 
blance between  his  character  and  his  style  is  the  marvellous  suppleness 
of  both ; — yet  his  style  is  instinct  with  a  very  keen  charm ; — a  sort 
of  social  optimism ; — and  also  a  very  keen  sentiment  for  what  is 
about  to  be  called  humanity. — The  truth  is  that  Fenelon  was  very 
kind, — to  those  who  recognised  his  superiority ; — and  he  was  very 
sensitive. — It  is  evidently  to  these  two  characteristics  that  he  owes 
his  reputation  as  a  philosopher  or  even  as  a  philanthropist  [Cf.  La 
Harpe  in  his  eulogy,  and  the  Fenelon  of  Marie-Joseph  Chenier]  ; — and 
in  this  way  the  world  has  formed  an  idea  of  Fenelon,  as  it  has  of 
Bossuet,  which  is  false  as  far  as  it  is  arrived  at — but  no  further — by 
an  attempt  to  judge  of  the  character  of  the  men  from  the  nature  of 
then-  writings. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — They  are  divided,  or  rather  they  have  been 
divided  in  the  Versailles  edition,  into  five  classes. 

(1)  TJteological  and  controversial  works,  of  which  the  principal 
are  : — the  Traite  de  I 'existence  et  des  attributs  de  Dieu,  1712,  1718 ; 
— the  Lettre  a  Veveque  d1  Arras  sur  la  lecture  de  VEcriture  sainte  en 
langue  vulgaire,  1707,  1718 ; — and  the  Refutation  du  Traite  de  la 
nature  et  de  la  grace,  published  for  the  first  time  in  1820  [vols.  i.,  ii. 
and  iii.] — Volumes  iv.,  v.,  vi.,  vii.,  viii.  and  ix.  contain  Fenelon's  dif- 


254    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

of  the  archbishop  of  Cambrai  lies  wholly  in  the  past,  as 
we  clearly  see  to-day,  though  nobody  perceived  the  truth 
at  the  time.  Fenelon  interests  the  men  of  his  epoch  in 
themselves,  an  achievement  that  accorded  exactly  with 
the  demands  of  the  coterie  of  the  moderns. 

There  are  other  works  which,  although  they  are  of 
inferior  literary  merit,  are  not  less  significant  of  the  trans- 
formation that  is  in  progress ;  and  disrespectful  as  it  may 
seem  to  speak  in  the  same  breath  of  Telemaque  or  the 
Caracteres  and  of  the"  comedies  of  Dancourt,  in  reality 
the  association  of  these  works  is  more  interesting  and 
instructive  than  it  is  slighting  to  Fenelon  or  La 
Bruyere.  It  is  in  Dancourt's  pieces  that  the  transforma- 
tion takes  place  of  the  comedy  of  character  into  the 

ferent  writings  on  the  subject  of  Quietism  with  the  exception  of  the 
Maximes  des  saints; — while  volumes  x.,  xi.,  xii.,  xiii.,  xiv.,  xv.  and  xvi. 
contain  his  writings  against  Jansenism. 

(2)  His  moral  and  devotional  ivorks,  comprising : — his  Sermons,  of 
which  the  principal  are  the  Sermon  pour  I'Epiphanie,  1685,  and  the 
Sermon  pour  le  sacre  de  VElecteur  de  Cologne,  1707  ; — his  Lettres 
sur  divers  points  de  spiritualite,  1718,  1738 ; — and,  included  in  this 
class  for  no  obvious  reason,  the  Traite  sur  V 'education  des  filles,  1687 
[vols.  xvii.  and  xviii.]. 

(3)  Fenelon's  diocesan  charges,  1701  to  1713  [vol.  xviii.] 

(4)  Literary  works  including  : — thirty-six  Fables ; — the  Dialogues 
des  morts,  an  imitation,  probably,  of  Fontenelle's  work.     The  edition 
of  1700  contains  four  dialogues, — that  of  1712  forty-seven, — that  of 
1718  sixty-nine, — that  of  1787  seventy-four, — that  of  1823  eighty-one ; 
— the  Aventures  de  Telemaque,  1699  and  1717 ; — the  Dialogues  sur 
Veloquence,  1718,  and  sundry  minor  works  including  the  Lettre  sur 
les  occupations  de  V Academic  francaise,  1716  [vols.  xix.,  xx.,  xxi.  and 
xxii.] 

(5)  Political  writings  including :  —Divers  Mernoires  concernant  la 
guerre  de  la  succession  d'Espagne ;. — the  Examen  de  conscience  sur 
les  devoirs  de  la  roi/aute; — and  the  Essai  philosophique  sur  le  gou- 
vernement  civil.     This  last  work  is  not  by  Fenelon,  but  was  written 
by  the  Chevalier  de  Eamsai  "  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  M. 
de  Fenelon,"  and  published  in  London  in  1721  [vol.  xxii.]. 


THE    NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     255 

comedy  of  manners,  in  his  "curtain-raisers"  as  well  as  in 
his  more  important  plays — in  the  Moulin  de  Javelle,  in 
the  Foire  de  Besons,  in  the  Vendanges  de  Suresne,  as  in 
the  Chevalier  a  la  mode,  in  the  Femme  d 'intrigues,  or  in 
the  Agioteurs.  And  as  for  the  comedy  of  manners,  in 
what  does  it  exist  if  not  in  the  presentation  of  the  foibles 
of  the  hour  and  the  follies  of  the  period  in  a  scenario  that 
itself  is  wholly  contemporary  ?  Plays  of  this  stamp  are  a 
mirror  in  which  the  comic  author  invites  us  to  recognise 
ourselves ;  and,  for  our  part,  after  making  allowance  for 
the  exaggeration  inseparable  from  caricatures,  and  further 
necessitated,  as  we  are  aware,  by  the  requirements  of 
dramatic  art,  what  we  look  for  in  such  plays  is  our  own 
likeness.  The  attractiveness,  however,  of  comedy  of  this 

It  remains  to  mention  the  Correspondence  in  twelve  volumes: — 
Correspondence  with  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  [vol.  i.] ; — Miscellaneous 
letters  [vols.  ii.,  iii.,  iv.] ; — letters  dealing  with  spiritual  matters  [vols. 
v.  and  vi.] ; — letters  relating  to  the  Quietist  controversy  [vols.  vii., 
viii.,  ix.,  x.,  xi.] — Vol.  xii.  contains  a  good  review  of  Fenelon's  works. 

IX.— The  Quarrel  "between  the  Ancients  and  Moderns. 
1.  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  QUARREL. — Three  lines  of  Horace : 

.£3tas  parentum,  pejor  avis,  tulit 

Nos  nequiores,  mox  daturos 

Progeniem  vitiosiorem ; 

— and  that  notwithstanding  Bodin  [Cf.  above  BODIN]  ; — Bacon  and  his 
De  augmentis ; — Descartes  [Cf.  Discours  de  la  methods,  vi.]  ; — and 
Pascal  [Fragment  (Van  Traite  du  vide}  ; — the  idea  expressed  by  these 
three  lines  was  entertained  "  by  all  thoughtful  persons  "  until  towards 
1680. — The  real  quarrel, — the  result,  like  many  important  events,  of 
insignificant  causes, — has  a  threefold  origin.  It  arose  out  of : — (1)  the 
controversies  touching  the  "  miraculous  character  of  Christianity  "  ; — 
controversies  which  inevitably  raised  the  question  of  the  superiority  of 
Christianity  over  Paganism  [Cf.  Desmarets  de  Saint- Sorlin's  preface 
to  Clovis  and  to  Marie-Mag  deleine] ; — (2)  the  mere  spectacle  of  the 
progress  made  by  science  between  the  time  of  Descartes  and  that  of 


256     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

order,  whatever  its  literary  value,  lies,  just  as  does 
the  attractiveness  of  the  Caracteres,  in  the  fidelity  of 
observation  displayed  in  it.  What  is  asked  of  the  author 
is  no  longer  that  he  shall  unravel  a  plot  or  develop  a  thesis, 
but  that  he  shall  hit  off  his  models  accurately ;  and,  in 
response  to  this  demand,  the  author  allows  himself  to  be 
directed  both  in  his  choice  of  subjects  and  in  his  mode  of 
treating  them  by  passing  events.  Dancourt  is  such  an 
author.  He  is  without  genius,  his  talent  is  slight,  his 
comedy  is  superficial,  his  wit  is  often  coarse ;  on  the  other 
hand,  his  plays  abound  in  details  relating  to  manners,  in 
scraps  of  dialogue  transported  on  to  the  stage  from  real 
life,  and  I  will  not  dare  to  say  in  portraits — it  would  be 
doing  him  too  much  honour — but  at  least  in  silhouettes  of 

Newton ; — (3)  the  idea  that  occurred  to  Charles  Perrault  of  disparaging 
the  ancients  with  a  view  to  flattering  Louis  XIV. — The  sitting  of  the 
French  Academy  held  on  January  27,  1687  [Cf.  Bigault,  Histoire  de 
la  querelle  des  Anciens  et  des  Modernes], — Indignation  of  the  partisans 
of  the  ancients  :  La  Fontaine,  Boileau,  Racine. — Fontenelle  supports 
Perrault  in  his  Digression  sur  les  Anciens  et  les  Modernes,  1688. — The 
first  edition  of  the  Caracteres  appears  almost  simultaneously  [the  royal 
authorisation  for  its  printing  is  dated  October,  1687]  ; — and  Perrault 
determines  to  write  his  Paralleles, — of  which  the  first  volume  appeared 
in  October  of  the  same  year. — Fontenelle  elected  to  the  French 
Academy,  1691 ; — election  of  La  Bruyere,  1693. — Boileau  replies  to 
the  Paralleles  in  his  Reflexions  critiques  sur  Longin,  1694 ; — Per- 
rault publishes  the  concluding  volume  of  his  Paralleles  in  1696 ; — • 
he  treats  in  it  of  the  superiority  of  the  moderns  in  the  matter  of 
science ; — and  the  quarrel  seems  appeased  by  Boileau's  letter  to 
Perrault,  1701. 

2.  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  QUARREL  ; — and  of  the  error  that  has  been 
committed  in  regarding  it  as  a  quarrel  between  pedants. — In  addition 
to  Rigault's  estimable  book  on  the  subject,  students  should  read 
Auguste  Comte's  pronouncement  on  the  matter  [Cf.  Cours  de  pliilo- 
sophie  positive,  vol.  iii.,  forty-seventh  lesson  ; — and  Pierre  Leroux's 
treatise,  Sur  la  Loi  de  la  continuite  qui  relie  le  XVIF  au  XVIIP 
siecle~\ . — The  real  point  at  issue  in  the  quarrel  is  : 

A.  From  the  pedagogic  point  of  view, — Will  the  ancients  remain 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     257 

personages,  who  dress,  speak,  move  about,  behave  them- 
selves, feel  and  think  after  the  fashion  of  people  of  the 
year  1700.  It  remains  that  there  shall  appear  on  the 
scene  a  more  skilful  artist,  and  above  all  a  more  con- 
scientious artist  and  one  more  devoted  to  his  art,  and 
that  he  shall  improve  on  Dancourt  if  he  can  !  Still,  as  it 
is,  the  comedy  of  Moliere  is  threatened,  or  even  already 
undermined.  The  case  is  the  same  with  the  politics  of 
Bossuet  and  with  the  aesthetics  of  Boileau,  and  all  three 
writers  are  the  butt  of  the  same  patient,  subtle,  and  almost 
invisible  enemy. 

This  enemy  might  be  said,  if  desired,  to  be  a  contempt 
or  rather  a  disdain  for  tradition,  but  I  prefer  to  speak  of  it 
as  a  frenzy  or  a  rage  for  novelty.  Nothing  gives  more  flavour 

the  educators  of  humanity  for  all  time  ? — for  what  reasons  ? — and  in 
virtue  of  what  privilege  ? — Ronsard  was  saturated  with  Greek  tradi- 
tion,— and  Malhei'be  with  Latin  tradition  ; — and  the  question  is,  has 
not  the  time  come  for  writers  to  be  purely  French  ? — La  Bruyere,  in 
his  Discours  sur  Theophraste,  shows  that  he  appreciates  that  these 
are  the  points  at  issue,  and  very  skilfully  defends  the  ancients ; — by 
justifying  the  authority  of  tradition  on  the  ground  of  the  element  of 
eternal  truth  contained  in  the  writings  of  the  ancients ; — and  contained 
in  consequence  of  their  greater  faithfulness  to  nature ; — while  he 
also  urges  that  they  expressed  ideas  the  propriety  of  which  is  still 
recognised  after  the  lapse  of  three  thousand  years ; — in  spite  of 
the  immense  changes  in  manners, — in  customs, — and  in  the  very 
conception  that  obtains  of  life. — In  the  second  place : 

B.  From  tlie  philosophic  point  of  view ; — the  question  at  issue  is 
that  of  progress ; — an  idea  of  which  a  conception,  confused  as  yet,  but 
undoubtedly  existent,  was  abroad  at   the   period; — and  an  idea  the 
paternity  of  which   has  wrongly  been  ascribed  to  Turgot. — Explicit 
passages  in  the  Paralleles : — [Cf.  vol.  iv.,  p.  40]  arithmetical  progress. 
— [Cf.  vol.  iv.,  p.  72]  organic  progress. — [Cf.  vol.  iv.,  p.  119]  evolution 
or  progress  by  differentiation  ; — and  in  this  connection  that  it  is  un- 
doubtedly Perrault  who  triumphed  over  convictions ; — which  Pascal 
and  Descartes  had  only  shaken. 

C.  From   the  (esthetic  or  literary  point  of  view ; — the  point  at 
issue  was  whether  the  ancients  had  attained  to  perfection ; — and  laid 

18 


258    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

or  "spice"  to  a  literary  work  than  an  air  of  novelty! 
Unfortunately,  although  truth  may  "have  a  bearded 
chin,"  as  Malebranche  said,  it  is  the  truth  for  all 
that ;  and  what  is  more,  it  is  not  given  to  every  one  to 
strike  out  a  new  line,  or  to  strike  out  a  new  line  when 
he  wishes  to  or  because  he  wishes  to.  It  must  also 
be  borne  in  mind  that  tradition  at  no  period  represents 
the  whole  of  the  past,  but,  on  the  contrary,  only  that  small 
portion  of  it  which  has  survived.  Tradition  is  not  Mevius 
or  Bavius,  who  have  passed  into  utter  oblivion,  but  Virgil 
and  Horace,  who  have  survived.  And  why  have  they 
survived  ?  Boileau  has  answered  the  question  in  excellent 
fashion:  "It  is  because  the  esteem  in  which  they  are  held 
does  not  depend  in  reality  on  the  length  of  time  during 

down  laws  that  can  only  be  swerved  from  to  the  detriment  of  art ; 
— or  whether,  on  the  contrary,  the  various  branches  of  literature 
must  not  necessarily  be  developed  and  transformed  in  the  course  of 
time. 

3.  SOME  CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  QUARREL. — It  transferred  the  golden 
age  of  humanity  from  one  period  to  another  ; — dealt  tradition  in  this 
way  a  serious  blow ; — and  completed  the  triumph  of  Cartesianism. — 
For  whatever  the  divisions  among  the  Cartesians,  they  are  all  agreed 
011  this  point : — that  optimism  is  justified  by  reason ; — or  that  optimism 
is  the  only  reasonable  opinion  [Cf .  in  this  connection  Spinoza's  Ethics, 
Malebranche's  Entretiens,  and  Leibnitz's  TJieodicee]. — Another  con- 
sequence of  the  quarrel  was  to  subject  literature  in  all  its  branches  to 
the  authority  of  fashion ;  fashion  being  merely  the  search  for  novelty 
whether  in  the  matter  of  ideas  or  of  that  of  dress  and  customs  ; — and, 
in  this  connection,  of  the  great  number  of  women  writers  at  the  close 
of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. ; — Mme  Deshoulieres  [Cf.  Sainte-Beuve, 
Une  ruelle  politique  sous  Louis  XIV.  in  his  Portraits  de  femmes~\  ; — 
Mme  de  Villedieu,  Mile  Bernard,  Mme  Durand,  Mile  de  la  Force, 
Mme  d'Aulnoy,  Mile  Lheritier,  Mme  de  Murat  [Cf.  Abbe  de  la  Porte, 
Histoire  litteraire  des  femmes,  and  Gordon  de  Percel  (Lenglet  du 
Fresnoy),  Bibliotheque  des  Tomans']. — And  from  all  these  conse- 
quences there  results  in  turn  another  consequence  : — the  disorganisa- 
tion of  pulpit  eloquence  ; — and  of  tragedy ; — the  parodying  of  lyricism ; 
— the  transformation  of  comedy  and  of  the  novel. 


THE    NATIONALIZATION   OF   FEENCH   LITER ATUEE     259 

which  their  works  have  survived,  but  on  the  length  of  time 
during  which  their  works  have  been  admired,"  or,  in 
other  words  :  "  The  antiquity  of  a  writer  is  not  a  cer- 
tain sign  of  his  merit,  but  the  long-standing  and  con- 
stant admiration  that  has  always  been  entertained  for 
his  works  is  sure  and  infallible  proof  that  they  ought  to 
be  admired."  [Cf.  Reflexions  critiques  sur  Longin,  re- 
flection vii.] .  It  would  be  impossible  to  employ  more 
sensible  language.  But  in  the  year  1700,  Boileau  is  not 
among  those  who  are  listened  to,  if  indeed  he  be  not 
among  those  who  are  scoffed  at ;  and  at  this  juncture 
writers,  instead  of  aiming,  as  they  did  in  his  time, 
at  being  superior  to  their  predecessors,  seek  to  be 
"  different  "  from  them.  Massillon  expressly  made  this 


X.— Jean-Baptiste  Massillon  [Hyeres,  1663 ;  f  1742,  Clermont- 
Ferrand]  . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — D'Alembert,  Eloge  de  Massillon,  in  his  Eloges 
academiques  ; — Maury,  Essai  sur  V eloquence  de    la    cliaire  ; — Abbe 
Bayle,  Massillon,  Paris,  1867  ; — Abbe  Blampignon,  Massillon,  Paris, 
1879,  and  L' Episcopal  de  Massillon,  1884 ; — F.  Brunetiere,  L'Elo- 
quence  de  Massillon,  Paris,  1881 ; — Abbe  Allais,  Massillon,  Toulouse, 
1883  ; — M.  Cohendy,  Correspondances,  Mandernents,  etc.,  de  Massillon, 
Clermont,  1883. 

2.  MASSILLON'S  ELOQUENCE. — Of  the  "  profane  "  character  of  Mas- 
sillon's  Sermons  ; — and  of  the  defects  and  at  the  same  time  of  the 
qualities   this  epithet  "profane"  must   be  understood  to  convey. — 
No  orator  has  ever  contrived  to  say  so  little  while  employing  such  a 
multitude  of  words ; — or,  on  the  other  hand,  to  say  that  little  in  more 
harmonious  language ; — no  orator,  again,  has  made  more  abusive  use 
of  every  rhetorical  expedient ; — but  no  orator  has  known  better  how 
to  turn  rhetoric  to  account ; — to  give  life  to  abstract  truths ; — to  lend 
his  discourse  an  air  of  "  elegance  "  or  sustained  distinction  ; — and  to 
suit  religion  to  an  audience  of  fine  ladies  and  courtiers. 

Massillon  had  recourse  to  the  same  rhetorical  expedients  even  in 
planning  his  sermons. — His  method  is  to  sketch  the  plan  of  his 
sermon  before  he  is  very  sure  as  to  what  he  will  put  into  it. — Of  the 
measure  of  ingenuousness  that  this  mode  of  composition  presupposes  ; 


260    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

confession.  The  highly  impertinent  question  was  put 
him  whether,  mounting  the  pulpit  after  such  men  as 
Bossuet  and  Bourdaloue,  he  nattered  himself  he  would 
surpass  them  :  "I  shall  preach  differently,1"  he  answered 
his  indiscreet  questioner.  And — this  justice  must  be  done 
him — he  kept  his  word  :  he  preached  differently  but  not 
so  well.  As  for  the  consequences  of  this  rage  for 
novelty,  of  which  Massillon  was  an  eloquent  example,  they 
speedily  prove  to  be  what  it  might  have  been  foreseen 
they  would  be  :  the  decadence  or  demeaning  of  all  the 
nobler  or  more  elevated  branches  of  literature. 

May  it  be  the  case  that  certain  of  these  branches  had 
exhausted  themselves  as  it  were,  owing  to  over-production, 
owing  to  their  having  furnished  too  many  masterpieces  in 

— and  of  the  measure  of  artifice  [Cf.  the  sermons  Sur  la  Mort  du 
pecheur  et  la  Mort  du  juste,  or  Sur  V enfant  prodigue]. — Comparison, 
in  this  connection,  between  Massillon's  expedients  and  Bourdaloue's 
method. — Of  the  importance  of  the  details  in  Massillon's  sermons. — 
His  affectation  of  preciosity. 

How  this  preciosity  has  its  influence  even  on  his  doctrine ; — and 
leads  him  to  display  alternately  excessive  rigorism, — or  excessive 
complaisancy. — Carried  away  by  his  flow  of  words  he  says  more  than 
he  means  to  say  ; — as  when  he  declares  that  "  ambition  is  the  most 
marked  characteristic  of  a  base  soul"  ; — or  when  he  exaggerates  the 
good  it  is  in  the  power  of  nature  to  accomplish. — It  will  now  be 
understood  what  is  meant  when  he  is  reproached  with  having  been 
a  mere  rhetorician ; — it  only  remains  to  add  that  he  is  one  of  the  most 
delightful  of  rhetoricians; — a  fact  that  explains  his  success  as  a 
preacher; — the  admiration  the  Encyclopedists  will  profess  for  him; 
— and  the  real  pleasure  experienced  in  reading  him. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  works  of  Massillon  comprise  two  series  of 
Advent  sermons,  joined  together,  and  numbering  in  all  ten  sermons  ; 
— forty-one  High  Lent  sermons ; — ten  minor  Lent  sermons ; — eight 
sermons  on  the  Mysteries ; — ten  panegyrics  ; — six  funeral  orations, 
including  those  on  Louis  XIV.  and  on  the  Dauphin  ; — four  Sermons 
de  veture ; — and  a  certain  number  of  Conferences,  Charges,  Synodical 
Discourses,  etc. 

Apart  from  the  funeral  orations,  the  only  sermons  whose  date  is 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE    261 

too  short  a  space  of  time  ?  This  is  the  reason  Voltaire 
would  content  himself  with,  and  we  are  not  going  to  deny 
that  it  contains  a  portion  of  the  truth.  Literary  branches 
are  subject  to  fatigue  and  exhaustion ;  they  die  out 
as  species  do  in  nature,  when  they  cease  to  find  around 
them  the  conditions  necessary  to  their  development. 
Genius  itself  would  seek  in  vain  to  revive  them  under 
these  conditions.  But  they  die  out  yet  more  surely 
when  they  become  blind  to  their  true  nature.  This 
is  the  fate  which,  at  the  point  we  have  reached, 
definitely  overtakes  lyric  poetry — of  the  true  genius  of 
which  Malherbe,  as  we  have  seen,  was  but  partially 
conscious — as  exemplified  in  the  Odes  and  Cantatas  of 
Jean-Baptiste  Bousseau.  Jean-Baptiste  is  the  model  or 

absolutely  certain  are  the  twelve  minor  Lent  sermons.  They  were 
preached  in  1718  in  the  chapel  of  the  Tuileries  for  the  benefit  and  in 
the  presence  of  Louis  XV.,  still  a  child  at  the  time. 

The  first  authentic  edition  of  Massillon's  works  is  that  published  by 
his  nephew,  Father  J.  Massillon  of  the  Oratory,  in  1745,  and  in  the 
absence  of  manuscripts  all  subsequent  editions  have  had  no  option  but 
to  follow  this  edition  [Cf.  Sacy,  Varietes  litteraires  et  morales]. 

XI.— French  Tragedy  from  1680  to  1715. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. —  The    brothers    Parfaict,    Histoire    du    theatre 
francais,  vol.  xii.  to  xx  ; — Leris,  Dictionnaire  des  Theatres  ; — Petitot, 
Repertoire  du  theatre  franqais,  vol.  i.  and  ii. ; — d'Alembert,  Eloges  de 
Campistron  et  de  Crebillon; — Villemain,  Litterature  frangaise  au 
XVIIP  siecle  ; — A  Vitu,  Crebillon,  notice  preceding  his  edition  of  this 
writer's  works,  1885  ; — F.  Brunetiere,  Les  Epoques  du  theatre  francais, 
1892. 

2.  THE    SUCCESSORS    OF    EACINB. — The    actors    of    the   Hotel  de 
Bourgogne  combine  with  those  of  Moliere's  theatre — and  the  Coniedie- 
Fran9aise  is  founded. — The  first  performance  at  the  Comedie-Fran- 
9aise  :  Phedre  and  the  Carrosses  d' Orleans. — J.  G.  Campistron  [1656, 
f  1723], — and   whether,    as   Voltaire    has  declared,    "  his    plots   are 
better  constructed  than  those  of  Racine  "  ? — He  doubtless  means  that 
they  are  more  romantic. — Arminius,  1684  and  Andronic,  1685. — The 
first  statutes  of  the  Comedie-Francaise,  April-October,  1685. — Pradon's 


262    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH    LITERATURE 

type  of  the  spurious  man  of  talent.  It  is  merely  with  a 
view  to  completeness  that  I  mention  the  comedies  of 
Regnard, — the  Meneckmes,  the  Folies  amoureuses,  the 
Legataire  universel, — the  least  of  whose  errors  is  to 
imagine  that  he  has  struck  out  a  new  line  by  returning, 
after  an  interval  of  fifty  years,  to  the  lazzi  and  imbroglios 
of  Italian  comedy.  Still,  let  it  be  conceded  him  that  his 
plays  are  cleverly  written  !  It  is  impossible  to  say  as 
much  for  the  tragedies  of  the  elder  Crebillon  from  the 
moment  that  Atree  et  Thyeste  and  Rhadamiste  et  Zenobie 
are  his  masterpieces !  Whereas  tragedy  had  owed  its  evolu- 
tion to  the  elimination  from  its  scope  of  the  romantic 
element,  under  the  auspices  of  this  sombre  poet  it  is  again 
invaded  and  even  swamped  by  this  discarded  material. 

very  successful  piece :  Begulus,  1688. — The  "  King's  Comedians  "  take 
possession  of  their  theatre  in  the  Rue  des  Fosses-Saint-Gennain  [at 
the  present  day  Eue  de  I'Ancienne-Comedie]  ; — and  give  their  first 
performance  18th  April,  1689  :  Pliedre  and  the  Medecin  malgre  lui. — 
Mile  Bernard's  Brutus  [written  in  collaboration  with  Fontenelle], 
1690. — Lagrange-Chancel's  first  tragedy  :  Adherbal,  1694  ; — Longe- 
pierre's  first  tragedy :  Medee,  1694. — Thomas  Corneille's  last  tragedy : 
Bradamante,  1695. — Antoine  de  la  Fosse  [1653,  f  1708]  ; — and  the 
success  of  his  Manlius  Capitolinus,  1698  ; — of  which  as  late  a  writer 
as  Villemain  speaks  as  if  it  were  a  sort  of  masterpiece. — And  yet, 
leaving  on  one  side  the  recrudescence  of  novelty  by  which  such  a  play 
as  Manlius  might  benefit  between  1790  and  1820  owing  to  favouring 
circumstances ; — and  to  the  genius  of  Talma ; — what  is  best  in 
Manlius  belongs  to  Saint-Real  as  the  author  of  the  Conjuration  des 
Espagnols  contre  Venise ; — or  to  Thomas  Otway,  the  English  drama- 
tist, as  the  author  of  Venice  Preserved ; — and  only  what  remains  to 
Antoine  de  la  Fosse. — Crebillon's  first  tragedies  :  Idomenee,  1705  ; — 
and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  influence  of  Telemaque  on  the  concep- 
tion of  antiquity  which  will  obtain  henceforth. 

3.  CK^BILLON'S  PLAYS. — Prosper  Jolyot  de  Crebillon  (1674,  f  1762) ; 
— his  extraction  and  his  youthful  years ; — his  lack  of  primary 
instruction  and  of  mental  culture ; — Boileau's  remark  concerning 
Crebillon:  "The  Scuderis  and  the  Pradons  at  whom  we  scoffed  so 
heartily  in  my  youth,  were  eagles  compared  with  these  writers." — A 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE    263 

Crebillon  sells  as  a  pure  Burgundy  wine 

A  fumy  wine  of  Auvergne  blended  with  the  grape  of  Lignage. 

What  becomes  of  pulpit  eloquence,  at  this  same 
juncture,  is  known  to  everybody  by  the  sermons  of 
Massillon.  As  one  of  his  contemporaries  says,  it  has 
developed  into  "  a  pleasure  in  which  the  very  senses  seem 
to  participate  "  :  and  if  this  appreciation  be  just,  as  in  my 
opinion  it  is,  what  terms  at  once  more  nattering  and  more 
profane  could  be  employed  to  characterise  the  merit  of  a 
madrigal,  of  a  love  elegy,  or  of  some  Anacreontic  ode  ? 

Under  the  influence  of  all  these  causes  the  character  of 
the  language  itself  undergoes  a  change.  To  the  stately 
sentence,  a  little  long  at  times  but  so  nobly  spacious,  to 

remark  of  I  [ontesquieu  to  the  contrary  effect ; — and  what  does  he 
mean  when  he  says  that  Crebillon  "  made  him  enter  into  transports 
akin  to  those  of  the  Bacchantes "  ? — Crebillon's  most  successful 
pieces:  Atree,  1707; — Electre,  1708; — Bhadamisie,  1711. — How  the 
romantic  element  reappears  in  tragedy  through  the  intermediary  of 
Crebillon's  "masterpieces." — His  choice  of  subjects; — and  that  while 
he  is  careful  as  a  rule  that  they  shall  be  "  atrocious,"  he  is  still  more 
careful  that  they  shall  be  "extraordinary"  [Cf.  the  subject  of  Atree, 
that  of  Bhadamiste  or  that  again  of  Pyrrlms}. — The  nature  of  the 
plots  hi  Crebillon's  plays ; — and  of  the  two  signs  by  which  their 
romantic  side,  and  then-  artificial  and  arbitrary  side,  are  seen : — the 
starting  point  of  the  action  is  a  misapprehension,  it  proceeds  to  turn 
on  a  qui  pro  quo  and  the  end  is  brought  about  by  the  recognition  of 
the  truth. — The  depiction  of  character  in  Crebillon's  plays ; — and  that 
it  is  as  wanting  in  conscientiousness  as  is  the  depiction  of  the  passions 
therein  in  truth  to  nature ; — his  tragedies  are  entirely  lacking  in  general 
or  human  interest. — Of  some  other  characteristics  of  Crebillon's  plaj's ; 
— and  of  the  declamatory  affectation  which  he  takes  to  be  eloquence. 
— Crebillon's  tragedies  are  merely  "  melodramas  "  written  in  verse. 

4.  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  VOLTAIRE  ; — and  the  new  tendencies  of 
tragedy. — Abundance  of  tragedies  based  on  biblical  subjects :  Abbe 
Brueys'  Gabinie,  1699 ; — Abbe  Nadal's  Saul,  1705 ; — and,  one  after 
the  other : — Herode,  1709 ; — Joseph,  1710 ; — Absalon,  1712 ; — Jona- 
thas,  1714. — The  first  performance  of  Racine's  Athalie,  1716. — 


264    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FBENCH   LITERATURE 

the  complex  and  genuinely  "  organic  "  sentence  of  Pascal 
and  Bossuet,  of  Kacine  and  Malebranche,  to  this  periodic 
sentence,  whose  sinuous  construction  is  such  an  admirable 
presentment  of  the  processes  of  thought,  there  now  suc- 
ceeds a  lighter  and  brisker  sentence,  a  sentence  that  is 
unencumbered  and  quicker  of  foot,  so  to  speak.  The 
period,  after  tending  for  a  while  towards  heaviness,  be- 
comes disjointed  or  is  broken  up.  "  For  the  past  twenty 
years  writers  have  strictly  observed  the  rules, — La  Bruyere 
declares  as  early  as  1688, — they  have  been  the  slaves  of 
construction,  they  have  enriched  the  language  with  new 
words,  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  Latinism  and  evolved  a  style 
in  which  the  sentence  is  purely  French."  What  he  means 
to  say  is  that  the  rules  have  been  laid  down  of  a  style  which 

Mythological  subjects, — and  that  they  are  the  outcome  of  the  growing 
influence  of  the  Opera :  Lagrange-Chancel's  Meleagre,  1699 ; — de  la 
Fosse's  Thesee,  1700; — La  Mort  d'Ulysse,  1707; — The  Tyndarides 
and  Atree  and  Thyeste,  1707 ; — Electre,  1708 ; — Ino  et  Melicerte, 
1713 ; — and  how  the  pieces  of  this  class  completed  the  deformation 
of  the  conception  of  tragedy ; — by  giving  less  and  less  place  in  it  to 
the  observation  of  reality, — and  converting  it  into  a  mere  recreation 
without  profit  or  significance. — Whether  this  mistake  is  counter- 
balanced by  the  political  tendencies  which  creep  into  some  of  these 
tragedies, — in  such  a  way  as  to  make  them  herald  the  corning  of 
Voltaire  ? — But  the  efforts  to  rejuvenate  this  branch  of  the  drama 
are  vain ; — and  nothing  can  prevail  against  the  opinion  which  is 
taking  root ; — to  the  effect  that  people  no  longer  go  to  the  theatre 
to  have  their  feelings  profoundly  stirred; — but  to  be  diverted  or 
amused ; — and  that  the  primary  charm  of  stage  fiction  lies  precisely 
in  its  air  of  unreality. — Henceforth  the  subjects  are  merely  pretexts 
for  stage  effects  or  ingenious  verses  ; — neither  authors  nor  spectators 
attach  any  importance  to  them, — except  so  far  as  it  is  necessary  to  do 
so  with  a  view  to  passing  an  hour  or  two  agreeably. 

5.  THE  WORKS. — Of  all  the  pieces  just  enumerated  there  are  not 
half  a  dozen  that  are  still  remembered ; — or  a  single  one  that  theatrical 
managers  still  venture  to  play ; — while  not  one  of  the  authors  deserves 
more  than  a  passing  mention  in  a  history  of  literature. 

However,  it  may  be   worth   while  to   consult  the  Repertoire  du 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FEENCH  LITERATURE    265 

is  far  more  impersonal  even  than  it  is  regular.  For  the 
future  every  word  will  have  its  appointed  place  in  the  sen- 
tence, and  will  have  to  occupy  that  place ;  henceforth  it  is 
forbidden  to  place  the  subject  after  the  verb,  or  the  attri- 
bute before  the  subject !  Further  on  he  adds :  "  The 
literary  language  has  been  endowed  with  the  utmost 
possible  measure  of  order  and  clearness  :  a  state  of  things 
which  tends  insensibly  to  make  authors  introduce  wit  into 
their  utterances."  This  is  the  use  to  which  he  puts 
language  himself,  and  his  example  encourages  others  to 
do  likewise.  He  would  have  been  nearer  the  truth  had 
he  said  that  authors  are  more  concerned  with  achieving 
brilliancy,  or  spurious  brilliancy,  than  any  more  sterling 
qualities.  "  It  seems  to  me,  my  dear  Sacy,"  writes  Mme 

Theatre  francais  for :  Carnpistron's  Andronic  ; — de  la  Fosse's  Man- 
lius  ; — and  Lagrange-Chancel's  Amasis  ; — and  for  Crebilloii  the  edition 
of  the  Collection  des  classiques  Lefevre  ;  or  Vitu's  edition  mentioned 
above,  Paris,  1885. 

XII.— Jean-Baptiste    Rousseau   [Paris,   1671;    f   1741,   La 

Genette,  near  Brussels]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Seguy,  Notice  preceding  the  edition  of  1743 ; — 
Voltaire,    Vie   de    Jean-Baptiste    Rousseau,    1748 ; — Cizeron    Rival, 
Remarque  sur   les   ceuvres   de   Jean-Baptiste   Rousseau,    1760 ;    La 
Harpe,  Cours  de  litterature,  part  ii.,  ch.  9 ; — Aniar,  Notice  preceding 
the  edition  of  1820 ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  litteraires,  1829,  vol.  i. 

2.  THE  POET  ; — and  in  the  first  place  of  the  uselessness  of  alluding 
to  the  man,  who  was  a  sorry  personage ; — but  between  whose  life  and 
works  there  is  scarcely  any  connection ; — a  fact  that  in  itself  deter- 
mines indirectly  the  nature  of  his  lyricism. — Rousseau's  "lyricism" 
is  impersonal  lyricism ; — that  is  it  is  the  very  contrary  of  lyricism ; — 
and  nothing  is  more  difficult  than  to  account  for  his  reputation. — His 
early  and  unsuccessful  efforts  at  writing   for  the   stage. — His  para- 
phrases of  the  Psalms  ; — his  Odes  and  Cantatas ; — his  Allegories. — 
How  he  endeavours  to  make  up  for  his  lack  of  personal  sentiment, — 
by  the  irregular  movements  or  contortions  which  the  author  of  the 
Art  poeiique  had  seemed  to  declare  were  the  essential  characteristics 


266       MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

de  Lambert  to  one  of  her  friends,  "  that  in  quoting  Latin 
to  you  I  overstep  the  bounds  of  modesty,  and  that  I  acquaint 
you  with  my  secret  excesses."  However,  it  is  at  least  pos- 
sible to  understand  her,  but  what,  will  it  be  supposed,  is 
the  meaning  of  Massillon  when  he  reproaches  the  great  of 
this  world  "with  transporting  into  the  field  of  the  Lord  what 
takes  up  room  uselessly  in  their  own  field"  ?  His  intention 
is  to  blame  the  great  for  making  over  to  the  Church  the 
sons  or  daughters  whom  they  are  unable  to  provide  with 
a  portion.  Mile  de  Launay,  more  learned  and  clearer, 
writes  in  her  Memoirs  :  "  He  used  to  offer  me  his  hand  to 
escort  me  home.  We  had  to  traverse  a  spacious  square, 
and  during  the  early  period  of  our  acquaintance  he  would 
make  the  round  of  its  sides.  Later  he  took  to  walking 

of  the  ode ; — by  bombastic  or  declamatory  language  ; — and  by  the 
piling  up  of  mythological  allusions  [Cf.  the  Ode  an  comte  du,  Luc : 

Tel  que  le  vieux  pasteur  du  troupeau  de  Neptune, 
and  the  Canlate  de  Circe  : 

Sa  voix  redoutable 
Trouble  les  enters, 
Un  bruit  formidable 
Gronde  dans  les  airs]. 

Close  connection  between  this  false  conception  of  lyricism  and  the 
vogue  of  opera ; — a  vogue  which  is  also  the  explanation  of  the  vague- 
ness and  generality  of  Rousseau's  abstractions. — That  this  form  of 
lyricism  is  merely  the  unconscious  caricature  of  true  lyricism ; — since 
its  principle  is  to  feign  emotions  the  writer  does  not  feel ; — and  to 
invest  those  he  does  experience  with  a  counterfeit  elevation ; — that  is 
confined  to  the  phraseology, — and  has  nothing  in  common  with  eleva- 
tion of  ideas  or  of  sentiment. 

3.  THE  WOKKS. — The  works  of  Eousseau  consist  of : — (1)  his 
writings  for  the  stage,  including  a  short  piece  in  prose,  Le  Cafe, 
performed  in  1694 ; — two  operas,  Jason,  1696  and  Venus  et  Adonis, 
1697 ; — and  five  comedies  in  verse,  of  which,  however,  only  two  were 
put  on  the  stage :  Le  Flatteur,  1696  and  Le  Capricieux,  1700 ; — (2) 
of  his  lyric  poems,  comprising  four  books  of  Odes,  the  first  of  which 
contains  his  paraphrases  of  the  Psalms ;  two  books  of  Allegories  and 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF  FEENCH  LITERATURE    267 

straight  across  the  middle  of  it,  and  I  judged  that  his  love 
liad  diminished  by  the  difference  between  the  diagonal  and 
the  two  sides  of  the  square."  Whatever  may  be  the  differ- 
ences between  these  modes  of  expression,  at  bottom  they 
all  resemble  one  another ;  and  are  they  not  those  at  which 
Moliere  had  been  wont  to  scoff?  They  evince,  however, 
a  desire  to  please,  and  this  desire  explains  a  final  charac- 
teristic of  the  transformation  the  language  is  undergoing  : 
grown  more  logical  and  simpler  in  construction,  easier  to 
follow  and  livelier,  it  becomes  at  the  same  time  more 
"social"  or,  if  it  be  preferred,  more  "fashionable." 

I  have  sometimes  wrondered  whether  this  transforma- 
tion should  not  be  attributed  in  a  measure  to  that  resump- 
tion of  the  offensive  on  the  part  of  Spanish  influence  which, 

some  twenty  Cantates ; — (3)  of  his  other  poems,  namely,  two  books 
of  Epitres,  four  books  of  Epigrammes,  the  last  of  which  contains 
nothing  but  gross  obscenities,  and  a  book  of  miscellaneous  poems ; — 
(4)  of  his  Letters,  in  which  some  items  of  information  touching  literary 
matters  can  be  gleaned  here  and  there. 

It  is  proper  to  add  that  between  1710  and  1820  few  writers  were  so 
often  reprinted  as  Jean-Baptiste  Eousseau. 

XIII.— Comedy  from  the  time  of  Moliere  to  that  of 
Destouches. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — [Cf.  above,  Article  XI.]  and  in  addition:  Petitot, 
Repertoire   du   Theatre  francais,  vols.  viii.,  ix.,  and  x. — Gherardi, 
Theatre  italien ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Regnard,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol. 
vii. ; — J.  J.  "Weiss,  Etoge  de  Regnard,  1859,  in  his  Essais  sur  I'histoire 
de  la  litterature  franeaises ; — Gilbert,  Regnard  in  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes,  1859 ; — Edouard  Fournier,  Notice  preceding  his  edition,  Paris, 
1874,  1875 ; — Notice  on  Dufresny  preceding  the  edition  of  his  works, 
Paris,  1747 ; — J.  Lemaitre,  Le  Theatre  de  Dancourt,  Paris,  1882. 

2.  THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  COMEDY. 

A.  Jean-Francois  Regnard  [Paris,  1655 ;  f  1709,  Grillon]. 

He  was  born  and  brought  up  in  Paris ; — his  Epicurean  existence ; — 
his  travels  and  adventures  ; — they  form  an  unexpected  justification  of 
the  endings  to  Moliere's  plays — Begnard's  captivity  in  Algeria. — 


268    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

between  1700  and  1714,  coincided  with,  or  rather  was  the 
result  of,  the  accession  to  the  throne  of  Charles  V.,  of  a 
grandson  of  Louis  XIV.  For  this  to  be  permissible,  how- 
ever, it  would  be  necessary  that  the  only  man  of  real  talent 
who  shows  signs  of  this  influence — I  refer  to  Le  Sage — 
should  not  also  be  the  only  writer  who  scoffs  at  this  new 
form  of  preciosity.  In  his  Diable  boiteux,  which  appeared 
in  1707,  he  merely  makes  passing  allusions  to  the  subject, 
but  he  returns  to  the  attack  in  his  Gil  Bias,  the  date  of  the 
first  part  of  which  is  1714.  With  a  boldness  that  recalls 
La  Bruyere  and  Moliere,  he  makes  Mme  de  Lambert  her- 
self figure  in  his  work  under  the  name  of  the  Marquise  de 
Chaves.  At  a  much  later  period,  he  has  a  final  thrust  at 
the  fashionable  affectation  in  the  Bachelier  de  Salamanque, 

His  first  plays  at  the  Theatre  Italien :  Divorce,  1688 ;  L'Homme 
a  bonnes  fortunes,  1690;  Les  Chinois  in  collaboration  with  Dufresny, 
1692  ; — his  comedies  of  "  character  "  :  the  Joueur,  1696  ;  the  Distrait, 
1697  ;  Democrite,  1700 ; — and  how  he  endeavours  in  these  works  to 
imitate  at  the  same  time  the  methods  of  observation  of  Moliere  and 
those  of  La  Bruyere. — His  observation,  however,  lacks  depth  and 
strength  ; — not  to  say  conscientiousness ; — and  it  is  obvious  that  he 
takes  neither  his  subjects  nor  his  art  seriously  ; — -It  is  for  this  reason 
that  his  real  masterpieces : — the  Folies  amoureuses,  1704,  and  the 
Legataire  universel,  1708, — are  works  of  a  different  class ; — in  which, 
to  the  accompaniment  of  better  constructed  plots  and  a  more  rapid 
action,  the  characters  of  Italian  comedy  reappear ; — clothed  in  the 
latest  French  fashion ; — and  speaking  the  language  of  the  extremely 
free  and  easy  world  in  which  Regnard  moved. — Regnard's  style, — 
and  whether  it  deserves  the  very  high  praise  that  has  been  bestowed 
on  it  ? — -His  style  is  really  vivacious,  supple  and  brilliant ; — qualities 
which  are  those  of  the  language  of  his  time  as  much  as  or  more 
than  they  are  his  personally ; — qualities  which  are  met  with  in  the 
Crispin  or  the  Diable  boiteux  of  Le  Sage,  1707 — or  in  the  Memoires 
de  Grammont,  1713. 

B.  Florent   Carton   Dancourt    [Fontainebleau,  1661 ;    I    1725, 
Courcelles  (Berry)]. 

The  favourite  pupil  of  Father  de  la  Rue  ; — his  youthful  exploits  ; — 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE     269 

when  he  indulges  in  ironical  praise  of  the  "  proconchi  " 
dialect.  "  If  you  ask  me  what  '  proconchi '  is,  I  reply 
that  it  is  a  language  which  has  its  declensions  and  its 
conjugations,  and  that  it  can  be  learned  as  easily  as  the 
Latin  language,  more  easily  even,  for  it  is  a  living  lan- 
guage which  it  is  possible  to  master  in  a  short  time  by 
dint  of  conversing  with  Indian  purists."  It  is  a  Spaniard 
who  is  speaking,  and  he  continues  :  "  It  is  an  harmonious 
language,  too,  and  even  richer  than  our  own  in  metaphors 
and  high-flown  figures  of  speech.  Should  an  Indian  who 
prides  himself  on  speaking  proconchi  well  decide  to  pay 
you  a  compliment,  he  will  employ  none  but  strange  and 
unusual  thoughts  and  far-fetched  expressions.  The  result 
is  an  obscure,  inflated  utterance,  a  brilliant  verbiage,  a 

he  runs  away  with  the  daughter  of  the  actor  La  Thorilliere ; — becomes 
an  actor  on  her  account ; — makes  his  first  appearance  on  the  stage  in 
1685, — and  as  a  dramatic  author  in  1686  with  his  comedy  Les  Fonds 
perdus. — This  work  is  followed  by  the  Chevalier  a  la  mode,  1687  ; — 
the  Femme  d'intrigues,  1692; — the  Bourgeoises  a  la  mode,  1692; — 
and  if  these  plays,  which  are  all  of  them  in  prose,  be  considered  in 
connection  with  such  pieces  of  minor  importance  as  : — the  Maison  de 
campagne,  1688 ; — the  Parisienne,  1691 ; — or  the  Gazette,  impromptu 
de  garnison,  1692  ; — the  rise  is  seen  of  a  new  stamp  of  comedy ; — in 
which  greater  importance  is  attached  to  current  events  ; — which  is  a 
more  exact  reflection  of  contemporary  manners ; — is  less  satirical  and 
more  jocose  than  the  comedy  of  Moliere. — which,  in  a  word,  is  the 
comedy  of  manners. 

Of  the  comedy  of  manners  as  exemplified  in  Dancourt's  plays ; — 
and  in  what  respects  it  still  remains  faithful  to  the  Molieresque  tra- 
ditions.— Thus  it  adopts  the  old,  oft-used  subjects  and  without  any  very 
great  concern  as  to  their  "reality" :  for  instance  the  befooled  guardian 
[Cf.  Le  Tuteur,  1695  ; — the  Enfants  de  Paris,  1699 ; — the  Trois  Cou- 
sines,  1700 ; — Madame  Artus,  1708] — and  the  unmasked  cogue  [Cf.  the 
CJievalier  a  la  mode,  1687 ; — L'Ete  des  coquettes,  1690 ; — the  Femme 
d'inlrigues,  1692 ; — the  Agioteurs,  1710]. — But  new  features  are  to  be 
distinguished  amid  these  general  resemblances. — Dancourt  is  in  the 
habit  of  putting  an  entire  social  category  on  the  stage, — as  is  indicated 
indeed  by  the  fact  that  his  titles  are  frequently  in  the  plural  [Les 


270    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

pompous  rigmarole,  but  this  is  precisely  what  constitutes 
the  excellence  of  the  language.  Such  is  the  fashion  at  the 
Academy  of  Petapa."  But  the  raillery  of  the  worthy 
novelist,  as  happened  in  the  past  to  that  of  La  Bruyere 
and  Moliere,  has  no  effect.  Lie  Sage  is  endowed  with  wit, 
endowed  with  it  indeed  in  abundance,  and  he  has  a  fair 
amount  of  learning,  which  he  is  rather  prone  to  display. 
Shall  I  venture  to  say  that  he  is  not  very  intelligent  and 
that  he  is  lacking  in  social  polish  ?  The  reasons  of  the 
transformation  that  is  in  progress  escape  him,  and  not 
understanding  it  he  scoffs  at  it,  an  attitude  eminently 
French.  But  more  circumspect  critics  look  closer  into 
the  matter,  and  although  they  do  not  perceive,  or  they  ill 
perceive,  what  will  be  the  outcome  of  the  transformation, 

Enfants  de  Paris,  Les  Bourgeoises  a  la  mode,  Les  Agioteurs. — Hence- 
forth, to  represent  a  given  phase  of  character,  several  personages  are 
introduced  instead  of  a  single  personage  as  had  previously  been  the 
custom ; — and  this  scattering,  as  it  were,  of  the  satire  results  in  its 
becoming  more  superficial ; — though,  on  the  other  hand,  it  owes  its 
"  topicalness  "  to  the  same  cause  [Cf.  the  Foire  de  Bezons,  1695; — the 
Moulin  de  Javelle,  1696 ; — the  Loterie,  1697 ; — the  Mari  retrouve, 
1698]. — Subordination  of  the  choice  of  subjects  to  topical,  anecdotic 
incidents ; — and  of  the  quality  of  the  humour  to  the  exigences  of 
fashion. 

"  Documentary  "  value  of  Dancourt's  plays ; — and,  in  this  connection, 
of  a  paradox  of  Eugene  Scribe  [Discours  de  reception]  to  the  effect 
that  the  stage  is  independent  of  manners. — The  types  of  character  in 
Dancourt's  plays. — The  world  of  finance  [Cf.  the  Femme  d'intrigues, 
1692,  or  the  Agioteurs,  1710].— The  "  demi-monde  "  or  the  world  of 
shady  morality  [Cf.  the  Chevalier  a  la  mode,  1687  ; — the  Bourgeoises 
a  la  mode,  1692; — the  Femme  d'intrigues,  1692]. — Comparison 
between  Dancourt's  plays  and  Le  Sage's  fiction. — The  beginnings"  of 
realism ; — and  in  what  respect  it  differs  from  naturalism. — Dancourt's 
later  plays:  SancJio  Panga,  1713; — the  Vert  Galant,  1714; — the 
Prix  de  Varquebuse,  1717; — the  Deroute  du  Pharaon,  1718. — The 
deficiencies  which  have  prevented  him  leaving  a  profounder  trace  on 
the  history  of  the  French  stage. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE    271 

they  are  struck  by  two  or  three  advantages  it  offers,  and 
reserve  their  judgment. 

Were  they  disposed  to  reply  to  the  novelist,  they  would 
tax  him  in  the  first  place  with  ingratitude,  and  without 
insisting  on  the  classical  reminiscences  which  are  frequent 
in  his  own  style  to  the  detriment  at  times  of  its  fluency, 
they  would  point  out  to  him  that  he  is  the  first  to  profit 
by  the  transformation  at  which  he  is  pleased  to  scoff. 
French  prose,  after  having  been  essentially  oratorical,  is 
becoming  narrative  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Fifty  or  sixty  years  of  the  history  of  our  literature  will 
now  elapse  before  we  again  meet  with  prose  that  is  really 
eloquent.  On  the  other  hand,  what  writers  of  narrative 
prose  had  we  had  since  the  death  of  Marguerite  and 

C.  Charles  Riviere-Dufresny  [Paris,  1648 ;  f  1724,  Paris]. 

Late  period  of  his  life  at  which  Dufresny  began  to  write. — He  was 
one  of  the  valets  de  chambre  of  Louis  XIV.  ; — his  passion  for 
gardening  and  his  dilettantism  ; — his  collaboration  with  Eegnard ; — 
he  begins  writing  for  the  Theatre  Italien :  the  Opera  de  campagne, 
1692 ; — the  Adieux  des  officiers,  1693 ; — he  writes  for  the  Theatre 
francais  :  the  Negligent,  1692 ; — the  Chevalier  joueur,  1697, — and 
whether  Regnard  was  indebted  to  Dufresny  for  the  idea  ? — The 
character  of  Dufresny  would  invite  the  belief  that  this  is  the  case  ; — 
since  he  was  "  a  man  of  ideas," — and  it  seems  probable  that  at  a 
later  period  Montesquieu  was  indebted  to  him  for  the  idea  of  the 
Lettres  persanes ; — another  of  Dufresny's  ideas  was  to  emancipate 
himself  from  the  influence  of  Moliere  [Cf.  the  prologue  to  the 
Negligent]  ; — and  how  far  was  he  successful  in  this  ambition  ? — His 
Malade  sans  maladie,  1699 ; — and  his  Esprit  de  contradiction,  1700. 
— That  Dufresny  depicts  himself  to  some  extent  in  this  latter  work. — 
His  chief  plays :  the  Joueuse,  1709  ; — the  Coquette  de  village,  1715  ; 
— the  Reconciliation  Normande,  1719. — Studied  novelty  of  the  plot ; 
— of  the  dialogue ; — and  even  of  the  versification  in  Dufresny's  plays. 
— Whether  it  can  be  said  that  there  is  already,  as  it  were,  a  fore- 
taste of  Marivaux  in  his  work  ? 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Independently  of  his  plays,  Regnard  has  left  ac- 
counts of  his  travels  in  Flanders,  Lapland,  Poland,  and  Germany ; — a 


272    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

Rabelais,  or  genuine  "historical"  writers  since  the  time 
of  Amyot  ?  The  name  of  Mme  de  Sevigne  must  not  be 
cited  here,  because  the  first  of  her  letters  will  not  see  the 
light  before  1726.  Bossuet  himself,  Bossuet  indeed  in  par- 
ticular, remains  an  orator  while  writing  history — in  historia 
orator — and  unless  higher  value  be  set  on  La  Fontaine's 
Psyche  than  ought  to  be  done  in  our  opinion,  La  Fontaine 
is  only  a  narrative  writer  in  his  verse.  In  consequence, 
since  Le  Sage  is  assuredly  one  of  the  masters  of  the  art  of 
narrative  among  French  writers,  are  we  not  justified  in 
holding  that  he  owes  something  at  least  of  his  superiority 
in  the  art  to  the  new  practices  against  which  he  yet 
protests  ?  He  would  have  been  a  less  excellent  narrator 
had  he  written  some  twenty  years  earlier.  A  circumstance 
that  goes  to  prove  this  assertion  is  the  spectacle  of  the 

sort  of  novel  La  Provencale,  which  is  the  narrative  of  his  adventures 
in  Algeria ; — and  some  miscellaneous  poems,  among  which  should  be 
mentioned  his  Satire  contre  les  maris,  and  the  Tombeau  de  M.  Des- 
preaux. 

The  best  or  the  finest  edition  of  his  works  is  that  of  1790,  Paris, 
Vve  Duchesne. 

Dancourt's  plays  are  his  only  works,  and  there  exists  no  "critical" 
or  even  complete  edition  of  them. 

The  best  edition  of  Dufresny,  and  it  is  not  very  good,  is  that  of 
1747,  the  three  first  volumes  of  which  contain  his  plays  and  the  last 
volume  a  number  of  short  pieces  in  prose,  among  which  may  be  men- 
tioned the  Amusements  serieux  et  comiques ; — a  Parallele  de  Rabelais 
et  d?  Homer  e ; — and  a  dozen  "  Historical  Stories,"  that  resemble  so 
many  scenarios  for  vaudevilles  or  comedies. 

XIV.— Alain-Rene  Le  Sage  [Sarzeau  (Morbihan),  1668;  f  1747, 
Boulogne-sur-Mer]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES.- — Gordon  de  Percel  (Lenglet-Dufresnoy),  Biblio- 
tJieque  des  romans ; — La  Harpe,  Cours  de  litterature,  part  iii.,  book 
i.,  chapter  v.,  section  4;  chapter  vii,  section  2;  and  book  ii.,  chapter 
iii. ; — Malitourne,  Eloge  de  Le  Sage,  and  Patin,  Eloge  de  Le  Sage, 
preceding  the  edition  of  1810-1823 ; — Audiffret,  Notice  sur  Le  Sage 
preceding  the  edition  of  1822,  Paris ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du 


THE   NATIONALIZATION   OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE    273 

narrative  writers,  his  inferiors,  who  crop  up  around  him  in 
continually  increasing  numbers,  from  the  author  of  the 
Memoires  de  Eocliefort  and  of  d'Artagnan,  whom  we  have 
already  mentioned,  to  the  author  of  Fleur  d'epine  and  of 
the  Quatre  Facardins.  And  if  the  reason  be  sought  of  this 
progress  of  the  narrative  style,  where  will  it  be  found  if 
not  in  the  new-born  interest  taken  at  this  juncture  in 
familiar  and  contemporary  matters  ?  It  would  not  be  easy 
and  it  would  even  be  rather  absurd  to  relate  "  oratorically  " 
the  adventures  of  Gil  Bias ;  or  how  would  it  be  possible  to 
set  forth  the  medical  theories  of  Doctor  Sangrado  in  stately 
and  eloquent  periods  ? 

Simultaneously  and  for  the  same  reason, — and  this  de- 
spite the  authority  of  Fenelon,  or  whatever  may  be  urged 
on  the  strength  of  his  "  Letter  on  the  Occupations  of  the 

lundi,  vol.  ii. ;  and  Jugements  sur  Gil  Bias  et  Le  Sage,  preceding  the 
table  of  contents  of  the  Causeries  du  lundi ; — F.  Brunetiere,  Etudes 
critiques,  vol.  iii. ; — Leo  Claretie,  Le  Sage  romancier,  Paris,  1890 ; — 
Lintilhac,  Le  Sage,  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  fran9ais  "  series,  1893. 

Francis  de  Neufchateau,  Examen  de  la  question  de  savoir  si  Le 
Sage  est  Vauteur  de  Gil  Bias,  1818,  and  reprinted  in  Lefevre's  edition, 
Paris,  1820 ; — Llorente,  Observations  critiques  sur  le  roman  de  Gil 
Bias,  Paris,  1822; — Fraiiceson,  Essai  sur  la  question  de  Voriginalite 
de  Gil  Bias,  Berlin,  1857  ; — Veckenstedt,  Die  Geschichte  des  Gil  Bias 
Frage,  Berlin,  1879. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WHITER. — Obscurity  surrounding  his  early 
years ; — his  family  difficulties ; — and  his  start  in  literature  ;  Lettres 
galantes  d'Aristenete,  1695. — His  relations  with  the  Abbe  de  Lionne. 
— He  publishes  bis  Theatre  espagnol,  1700 ; — and  Don  Quichotte,  a 
translation  from  the  Spanish  of  Avellaneda. — His  first  play  at  the 
Theatre  franqais,  1707, — and  his  Turcaret,  1709. — In  what  respects 
Turcaret  concentrates  and  summarises  the  novel  features  in  Dancourt's 
plays ; — although  without  swerving  from  the  Molieresque  tradition. — 
Why  Turcaret  was  never  a  success ; — and  did  Le  Sage  possess 
dramatic  genius  ? — The  farmers  of  the  revenue  endeavour  to  have 
the  acting  of  Turcaret  forbidden ; — intervention  of  the  Dauphin,  the 
son  of  Louis  XIV. ; — Le  Sage  quarrels  with  the  actors  of  the  Theatre 
Fran9ais ; — and  secedes,  to  spite  them,  to  the  Theatre  de  la  Foire. — 

19 


274    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

French  Academy," — the  vocabulary  is  being  enriched  to  a 
considerable  extent.  A  few  old-fashioned  words  drop  out 
of  use  :  withdrawn  from  circulation;  they  are  no  longer 
current  coin.  Their  place  is  taken,  however,  by  other 
and  far  more  numerous  words.  "  We  have  added  a  great 
many  words,"  declares  in  1718  the  writer  of  the  Preface 
to  the  second  edition  of  the  Dictionary  of  the  Academy ; 
and  in  another  passage  he  makes  the  following  observation 
which  does  not  solely  concern  the  language :  "  The 
Academy  has  not  thought  it  right  to  exclude  certain 
words  to  which  the  freaks  of  custom  or  perhaps  of  our 
manners  .  .  .  have  given  currency  during  the  past  few 
years.  ...  It  would  seem,  indeed,  that  there  exists  a 
sort  of  equality  between  the  words  of  a  language  as 
between  the  citizens  of  a  republic ;  they  enjoy  the  same 

Henceforth  he  devotes  all  his  time  not  occupied  by  his  novels  to 
writing  for  this  theatre.— The  collaboration  of  Le  Sage,  d'Orneval, 
and  Fuzelier ; — and  of  the  documentary  interest  attaching  to  the 
Theatre  de  la  Foire. — The  Diable  boiteux,  1707; — and  Gil  Bias,  1715, 
1724,  1735. 

A.  The  elements  which  Le  Sage's  novels  owe  to  his  predecessors. — 
The  development  of  story  writing  between  1680  and  1700 ; — and  the 
transition  from  the  oratorical  to  the  narrative  style ; — the  abundance  of 
Memoirs ; — and  the  growth  of  the  personal  form  of  narrative.— What 
Le  Sage  owes  to  Le  Bruyere  ; — and  that  in  a  certain  sense  the  Diable 
boiteux  is  merely  a  series  of  portraits  or  characters  [Cf.  the  old 
coquette,  the  old  gallant,  the  German,  the  Frenchman,  the  school- 
master, &c.]. — Just  as  Dancourt  did  in  his  plays,  the  novelist  seeks  to 
arouse  the  interest  of  his  readers  by  resorting  to  the  "  depiction  of 
social  classes " ; — and  in  this  respect  Gil  Bias  itself  is  merely  a 
comedy. — The  allusions  to  contemporary  events  in  Le  Sage's  novels ; 
— and  whether,  when  he  denies  these  allusions,  he  is  more  sincere 
than  was  the  author  of  the  Caracteres  under  similar  circumstances  ? 
— Le  Sage's  imitation  of  Spanish  writers ; — and,  in  this  connection, 
of  the  picaresque  novel  [Cf .  Ticknor,  Histoire  de  la  litteralure  espag- 
nole,  and  Eug.  de  Navarrete  in  the  collection  of  Spanish  Classics 
(Ribadeneira)]. — Le  Sage's  numerous  borrowings; — -and  the  puerility 
of  the  reproaches  that  have  been  addressed  him  on  this  score  [Cf. 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     275 

privileges  and  are  governed  by  the  same  laws ;  and  just 
as  a  general  of  an  army  or  a  magistrate  are  not  citizens  in 
a  greater  degree  than  a  common  soldier  or  the  humblest 
artisan  ...  so  the  words  '  justice '  and  '  valour,'  although 
they  express  the  highest  of  all  the  virtues,  are  not 
French  words  in  a  greater  degree  or  better  French  words 
than  those  destined  to  express  the  basest  and  most 
despicable  things."  Shall  we  cite  some  of  these  words? 
In  the  Preface  itself  are  pointed  out  the  words  Falbala, 
Fichu,  Battant  Vceil,  Batafia,  Sabler ;  as  will  be  seen 
at  once,  they  are  popular  or  concrete  terms  in  use  in 
e very-day  life.  Others  of  these  new  words  are  terms 
relating  to  the  toilette,  for  example,  or  terms  employed  in 
the  sciences — in  mechanics,  physics,  or  natural  history. 
Their  introduction  is  accompanied  by  the  development  of 

Llorente,  loc.  cit. ;  Baret,  Litterature  espagnole ;  F.  Brunetiere, 
Histoire  et  litteralure,  vol.  iii. ;  and  Leo  Claretie,  op.  cit.~\. 

B.  The  originality  of  Le  Sage's  novel ; — and  that  to  judge  of  it, 
it  is  necessary  of  course  to  eliminate  the  subsidiary  incidents  which 
interrupt  the  main  narrative  [Cf.  the  love  affairs  of  the  Comte  de 
Belflor  and  Leonor  de  Cespedes]. — Where  Le  Sage  has  imitated  the 
picaresque  novel  he  has  "humanised"  it; — and  that  exactly  what 
this  means  may  be  understood  by  comparing  his  Gil  Bias  with  his 
translation  of  Estevanille  Gonzalez,  1734. — The  rogues'  confessions  to 
be  found  in  the  picaresque  novels  become  in  his  hands  a  picture  of 
human  life ; — and  in  the  place  of  a  succession  of  adventures  devoid  of 
significance,  he  gives  us  a  satire  on  the  social  conditions  of  his  tune. — 
In  other  words,  he  considers  what  in  his  models  is  too  exclusively 
peculiar  to  the  individual  under  its  universal  aspect ; — and  in  this  way 
gives  a  moral  import  to  incidents  in  themselves  insignificant. 

C.  TJie  importance  of  Le  Sage's  novel ; — and  that  it  lies  in  the  fact 
that  it  is  due  to  Gil  Bias  that  the  realistic  novel  became  a  branch  of 
literature. — Coming  after  La  Bruyere  and  resorting  to  analogous 
methods,  Le  Sage  transferred  the  satire  of  manners  from  the  stage 
to  books ; — and  by  so  doing  he  struck  out  a  genuinely  new  line. — It 
was  his  good  fortune  to  determine  the  fundamental  distinction 
between  the  stage  play  and  the  novel. — The  hero  of  a  novel  is 
always  the  victim  or  the  creature  of  circumstances ; — and  he  resigns 


276    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

an  interest  in  the  things  they  designate.  These  things 
are  made  to  serve  for  the  drawing  of  fresh  comparisons 
and  as  the  source  of  new  figures  and  metaphors.  The 
whole  of  a  vast  province  that  hitherto  had  been  outside 
literature  is  now  incorporated  with  it.  Words,  too,  are 
introduced  from  Holland,  where  they  are  coined  by  the 
newspapers  to  express  ideas  for  which  no  term  existed 
in  France ;  while  from  England  come  yet  other  words 
which  are  not  exactly  English,  but  French  words  that 
had  crossed  the  Channel  as  "  refugees  " — if  the  term 
be  allowable.  The  plasticity  of  the  French  genius  per- 
mits it  to  absorb  and  assimilate  all  these  heterogeneous 
elements,  to  conform  them  to  its  exigences,  and  to  subject 
them  to  the  rules  of  French  grammar.  And  what  is  the 
final  outcome  of  this  movement  ?  It  is — and  the  fact 

himself  to  circumstances ; — whereas  the  stage  hero  claims  to  domi. 
nate  them. — The  imitation  of  every-day  life  in  Le  Sage's  novel ; — 
and  that  neither  the  Spanish  background,  nor  the  continual  aiming 
at  satire  result  in  the  masking  of  its  exactitude. — Comparison  between 
the  "  fictitious  "  history  in  Gil  Bias  and  the  history  proper  of  Dubois 
or  Alberoni. — Of  the  nature  of  the  incidents  in  Le  Sage's  novel ; — and 
that  there  is  nothing  "  romantic  "  about  them, — so  far  as  the  word  is 
synonymous  with  arbitrary  or  extraordinary. — The  mistake  sometimes 
made  in  this  connection  is  the  outcome  of  insufficient  acquaintance 
with  the  private  life  of  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  and  the  Regency. — 
Abundance  of  realistic  touches  in  Le  Sage's  novel ; — and  how,  as  in 
Boileau's  satires, — their  excessiveness  is  always  tempered  by  his 
literary  training. — A  strange  remark  of  Nisard  on  Le  Sage  considered 
as  a  moralist ; — and  that  there  is  nothing  in  common  between  Le 
Sage  and  Rollin  except  their  abuse  of  Latin  quotations. 

The  last  works  and  the  last  years  of  Le  Sage. — His  translation, 
Guzman  d'Alfarache,  1732 ; — his  exotic  novels :  the  Aventures  du 
chevalier  de  Beauchesne,  1732 ; — and  the  Bachelier  de  Salamanque, 
1736. — In  the  meantime  he  continues  to  write  for  the  Theatre  de  la 
Foire ; — and  on  the  stage  as  in  the  novel  to  satirise  the  classes  of 
persons  he  most  disliked,  namely  : — actors  themselves ; — financiers  ; 
— and  the  Precieux. — His  literary  opinions  [Cf.  in  Gil  Bias  the 
conversations  of  Gil  Bias  with  Fabrice ;  in  the  Bachelier  de  Sala- 


THE    NATIONALIZATION    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     277 

must  be  insisted  on — that  while  a  more  elevated,  a  graver, 
a  more  serious  French  may  have  been  spoken  previously, 
there  has  never  been  spoken  a  "prettier"  French  than 
that  in  use  between  1685  and  1715  or  thereabouts,  a 
French  more  limpid,  a  French  that  is  a  closer  transcript 
of  thought,  or  at  the  same  time  a  more  concrete  French. 
For  proof  it  is  only  necessary  to  read  Fontenelle  and  Le 
Sage,  Mme  de  Lambert  and  Mile  de  Launay,  Eegnard 
and  Massillon.  The  truth  is,  the  writers  of  this  period 
are  merely  deficient  in  composition,  in  depth  and  in 
harmony,  important  qualities  no  doubt,  but  not  always 
and  everywhere  indispensable,  since  their  very  absence 
was  to  contribute  to  the  European  vogue  of  our  literature. 
In  reality  what  was  happening  was  that,  in  propor- 
tion as  the  influence  of  royalty  waned,  "  society  "  was 

manque  the  thrusts  at  Mme  de  Lambert  and  the  account  of  the 
Academy  of  Petapa;  and  Hoiincher,  Die  litterariscJie  Satire  Le  Sage's, 
Leipsic,  1886]. — This  realistic  novelist  is  almost  the  last  of  the 
"  classic  "  writers. — His  protracted  old  age. — His  last  works :  the 
Valise  trouvee,  1740  ;  and  the  Melange  amusant,  1743. — His  influence 
in  France  and  abroad. 

3.  THE  WOKKS. — They  are  composed,  as  has  been  seen : — (1)  of  his 
plays  ; — (2)  of  dramas,  comedies,  and  picaresque  novels  translated 
from  the  Spanish ; — (3)  of  his  original  novels  :  the  Diable  boiteux, 
Gil  Bias,  the  Aventures  du  chevalier  de  Beauchesne,  and  the  Bachelier 
de  Salamanque ; — (4)  of  the  pieces  he  wrote  in  collaboration  with 
Orneval  and  Fuselier  for  the  Theatre  de  la  Foire  [four  volumes]  ; — 
(5)  and  of  some  works  written  for  the  booksellers,  among  which  may 
be  mentioned  his  revision  of  the  Mille  et  un  Jours  of  Petis  de  la 
Croix,  the  Orientalist. 

The  "  definite  "  edition  of  Gil  Bla*  is  that  of  1747  in  four  volumes. 

The  modern  editions  are  innumerable. 

Two  good  editions  of  the  complete  works  are  the  edition  of  1810- 
1823  ; — and  Renouard's  edition,  Paris,  1820. 

XV.— Mme  de  Lambert's  Salon. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Lettres  choisies  de  M.dela  Riviere,  Paris,  1751 ; 
— Fontenelle,  Eloge  de  Mme  de  Lambert ; — the  Memoirs  of  Mme  de 


278    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATUEE 

recovering  its  independence,  and  far  from  the  sovereign, 
far  from  the  Court,  "  in  the  town  " — to  use  the  expression 
of  the  period — the  salons,  and  with  the  salons  women 
were  reconquering  their  authority.  Between  1660  and 
1690  they  had  been  excluded  to  a  certain  extent  from 
literature  and  art — they  had  been  kept  a  little  in  the  shade. 
Now,  however,  that  the  aged  King  regards  them  with 
indifference,  and  awaiting  the  time  when  the  Regent  will 
treat  them  in  the  way  that  is  notorious,  they  regain  their 
natural  influence,  and  as  a  prelude  to  the  revels  of  Sceaux, 
the  glories,  thought  to  have  vanished  for  ever,  of  the 
Hotel  de  Bambouillet  are  revived  in  the  salon  of  Mme 
de  Lambert.  Moreover,  since  lofty  speculations  rebut 
them,  and  they  are  rather  afraid  than  otherwise  of 
strenuous  passions,  authors  tax  their  ingenuity  to  present 

Staal-Delaunay,  d'Argenson,  and  the  President  Henault ; — d'Alembert, 
Eloges  de  Sacy,  de  Sainte-Aulaire,  de  la  Motte ; — Sainte-Beuve, 
Mme  de  Lambert,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  iv. ; — Desnoiresterres,  Les 
cours  galantes  ; — Ch.  Giraud,  La  Marechale  de  Villars,  Paris,  1881  ; 
— Lescure's  study  preceding  his  edition  of  the  works  of  Mme  de 
Lambert,  Paris,  1882 ; — Emmanuel  de  Broglie,  Les  mardis  et  les 
mercredis  de  la  Marquise  de  Lambert,  in  the  Correspondant,  April 
10  and  25,  1895. 

2.  THE  EEVIVAL  OF  PRECIOSITY; — and  that,  as  at  its  first  appear- 
ance, it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  protest  on  the  part  of  the  women  against 
coarseness  of  language ; — indecency  of  manners ; — and  the  tendency 
towards  naturalism. — Anne-Marie  Therese  de  Marguenat  de  Courcelles, 
Marquise  de  Lambert  [1647,  f  1773]  ; — her  youth  ; — her  marriage 
and  her  early  writings. — Her  "correspondence"  with  Fenelon. — The 
Avis  d'une  mere  a  son  fils  and  the  Avis  d'une  mere  a  sa  fille. — Mme 
de  Lambert  takes  up  her  residence  at  the  Hotel  de  Nevers,  1698 
[to-day  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale]  ; — and  assigns  herself  the  role  of 
patroness  of  letters. — Her  "  Tuesdays  "  and  "  Wednesdays." — As 
formerly  at  the  Hotel  de  Rambouillet,  men  of  letters  mingle  at 
her  receptions  with  noblemen, — actresses  [Cf.  Letires  d'Adrienne 
Lecouvreur,  edited  by  M.  G.  Monval,  Paris,  1892]  ; — and  ladies 
of  high  birth  [Cf.  Giraud,  La  Marechale  de  Villars']. — However, 
a  greater  freedom  of  tone  prevails  than  at  the  earlier  salon ; — or 


THE    NATIONALIZATION   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE     279 

such  matters  to  them  under  an  amusing  form  ;  while 
they,  for  their  part,  rid  the  language  of  all  trace  of 
pedantry  and  strip  thought  itself  of  the  sort  of  pride 
on  which  it  fed  in  solitude.  And  it  is  for  these  reasons 
that  this  thought  and  this  language  become  the  most 
faithful  image  that  exists  of  the  French  genius,  admit- 
ting this  genius  to  be,  as  we  have  endeavoured  to  show 
is  the  case,  the  genius  of  "  sociability."  The  authors 
of  the  period  have  the  public,  and  the  public  only, 
in  view  in  their  writings.  They  write  to  amuse  their 
fellow-men,  to  please  them,  to  win  their  applause — and 
to  a  slight  extent  to  instruct  them.  Whatever  be  the 
author's  extraction,  in  whatever  rank  of  society  he  may 
have  been  born,  whatever  conception  he  may  have  of 
his  parts,  his  first  care  is  to  determine  the  relations 

a  freedom  of  a  different  kind ; — and  the  conversations  had  a  wider 
range. 

3.  THE   GEEAT   MEN   OF  MME   DE    LAMBEET'S    SALON.  —  Antoine 
Houdar  de  la  Motte  [1672,  f  1731].     [Cf.  the  Abbe  Trublet,  Memoires 
sur  M.  de   la  Motte,  and  d'Alembert,  Eloge   de  La   Motte}. — His 
triumphs  at  the  opera :  L' 'Europe  galante,  1697  ;  Isse,  1698 ;  Amadis 
de  Grece,  1699. — His  Odes,  1706,  and  his  Fables,  1719. — His  Discours 
sur  Homere,  1714  ; — and  Mme  Dacier's  rejoinder :  Des  causes  de  la 
corruption  du  gout. — Mme  de  Lambert's  intervention  in  the  quarrel. 
— The  entire  Salon  sides  with  the  Moderns ; — and  as  it  was  held  to 
represent  both  polite  manners  and  good   taste, — the   opposition   of 
literary  opinion  to  the  Ancients  is  consummated. — Other  works  of  La 
Motte. — His  tragedies  :  the  Macchabees,   1721 ; — Romulus,    1722 ; — 
Ines   de  Castro,  1723. — La  Motte  scores  further  successes  with  his 
"  academical  speeches  " ; — and  becomes  the  literary  oracle  of  Mme 
de  Lambert's  salon.      [Cf.  Paul  Dupont,  Houdar  de  la  Motte,  Paris, 
1898J . 

4.  THE  FOBMATION   OF  PUBLIC   OPINION. — The  mixture  of  men  of 
culture  and  business  men  in  the  salon  of  the  Hotel  de  Nevers  results 
in  the  formation  of  a  public  opinion. — Mme  de  Lambert  becomes  the 
"Great  Electress"  of  the  French  Academy; — to  the  increase  of  her 
own  influence  and  that  of  the  Academy. — This  result  is  promoted  by 
the  indifference  of  the  authorities ; — and  also  by  the  growing  disorder. — 


280    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

between  his  personality  and  the  ideas  of  his  time  and 
to  put  himself  in  accordance  with  them.  In  no  other 
way  are  literary  vogue,  authority,  glory  or  reputation  to 
be  acquired.  This  attitude  is  one  way  of  understanding 
literature,  and  we  have  just  reviewed  its  advantages.  But 
may  it  not  be  that  these  advantages  are  counterbalanced 
by  drawbacks  ?  This  is  the  point  we  shall  examine  in  the 
following  chapter. 

The  court,  which  has  ceased  to  direct  opinion,  is  blind  to  the  significance 
of  the  movement  in  progress. — Budding  talent  no  longer  looks  to  Ver- 
sailles for  definite  recognition  ; — but  to  the  salon  of  Mme  de  Lambert. 
• — While  Fontenelle  and  La  Motte  reign  over  the  salon,  Marivaux  and 
Montesquieu  are  its  new  recruits. — With  their  appearance  on  the 
scene ; — and  that  of  the  Abbe  Saint- Pierre  [Cf.  G.  de  Molinari, 
L'abbe  de  Saint-Pierre,  Paris,  1857  ;  and  Goumy,  Etude  sur  la  vie 
et  les  ecrits  de  Vabbe  de  Saint-Pierre,  Paris,  1859]  ; — begins  the  dis- 
cussion of  "  serious  subjects  "  ; — and  the  sway  of  the  salons  and  the 
authority  of  the  intellect  are  founded  simultaneously. 


CHAPTEK  III 
THE   DEFORMATION    OF  THE   CLASSIC    IDEAL 


Despite  what  has  been  said  in  support  of  the  con- 
tention, literature  is  not  always  "  the  expression  of 
society,"  but  when  once  it  has  become  so,  it  is  doubtless 
only  natural  for  its  destinies  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  the 
society  of  which  it  is  the  expression.  As  has  just  been 

THE   AUTHOES   AND   THEIR  WORKS 
SEVENTH  PERIOD 

From  the  "  Lettres  Persanes "  to  the  publication  of  the 
"  Encyclopedia" 

1722-1750 

I.— Charles  de  Secondat,  Baron  de  la  Brede  et  de  Mon- 
tesquieu [Chateau  de  la  Brede,  near  Bordeaux,  1689  ;  f  1755,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Maupertuis,  Eloge  de  Montesquieu,  1755 ; — 
d'Alembert,  Eloge  du  President  du  Montesquieu,  1755,  in  the  5th  vol. 
of  the  Encyclopedia ; — Voltaire,  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV.,  in  the  Catalogue 
des  Ecrivains,  1756 ;  his  article  Esprit  des  Lois  in  his  Diction- 
naire  pliilo*opliique,  1771;  and  Commentaire  sur  VEsprit  des  Lois, 
1777  ; — Villemain,  Eloge  de  Montesquieu,  1816  ; — Garat,  Memoires 
historiques  sur  la  vie  de  M.  Suard,  1820 ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries 
du  lundi,  vol.  vii.,  1852; — Louis  Vian,  Histoire  de  la  vie  et  des 
ouvrages  de  Montesquieu,  Paris,  1879 ; — Albert  Sorel,  Montesquieu 
in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  frai^ais  "  series,  Paris,  1887. 

281 


282    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

seen,  this  is  what  is  beginning  to  happen  to  literature  in 
the  early  years  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.,  and  the  process 
is  consummated  during  the  same  period. 

Freed  from  or  rid  of  the  Protestants,  Jansenism  and 
Louis  XIV.,  the  "Libertines"  gain  ground  unceasingly 
and  become  the  leaders  and  masters  of  opinion.  "  There 
may  have  been  ungodly  persons  in  the  past, — exclaims 
Massillon  in  his  Petit  Careme, — but  the  world  regarded 
them  with  horror.  .  .  .  To-day,  however,  ungodliness 
almost  lends  an  air  of  distinction  and  glory ;  it  is  a 
merit  that  gives  access  to  the  great,  that  adds  lustre, 
as  it  were,  to  humbleness  of  name  and  birth,  that  procures 
for  obscure  men  the  privilege  of  familiarity  with  the 
people's  princes."  [Cf.  Petit  Careme,  third  sermon  "  On 
the  respect  due  to  religion."]  The  people's  princes  are 
the  Vendome  family,  unless — for  we  are  in  1718 — the 

Bertolini,  Analyse  raisonnee  de  VEsprit  des  Lois,  1754,  printed  too 
in  vol.  iii.  of  Laboulaye's  edition  ; — d'Alernbert,  Analyse  de  VEsprit 
des  Lois,  1755,  printed  too  in  Parrelle's  edition ; — Crevier,  Observations 
sur  le  livre  de  VEsprit  des  Lois,  1764 ; — Destutt  de  Tracy,  Commen- 
taire  sur  VEsprit  des  Lois,  Philadelphia,  1811 ;  and  1819,  Paris  ; — Sclo- 
pis,  Recherches  Jiistoriques  et  critiques  sur  VEsprit  des  Lois,  Turin, 
1857 ; — Laboulaye,  Introduction  a  VEsprit  des  Lois,  Paris,  1876. 

See, too,  Auguste  Comte,  Cours  de  philosophic  positive ?,  vols.  v.  andvi., 
Paris,  1842  ; — Ernest  Bersot,  Etudes  sur  le  XVIIIe  siecle,  Paris,  1855; 
— J.  Barni,  Histoire  des  idees  morales  et  politiques  en  France  au 
XVIII'  siecle,  Paris,  1865 ; — P.  Janet,  Histoire  de  la  science  poli- 
tique,  Paris,  1858 ;  and  2nd  edit.,  1872 ;— Robert  Flint,  The  Philo- 
sophy of  History  in  France ; — H.  Taine,  L'ancien  regime,  Paris, 
1875 ; — Emile  Faguet,  Dix-huitieme  siecle,  Paris,  1890. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — Montesquieu's  extraction ; — he  was 
a  Gascon,  of  good  birth,  and  a  magistrate. — He  enters  the  Parliament 
of  Bordeaux,  1714 ; — and  hi  succession  to  one  of  his  uncles  he  is 
appointed  President  of  the  Bordeaux  Court  of  Justice,  1716. — Inte- 
resting analogy  between  the  beginning  of  his  career  and  the  beginning 
of  Montaigne's  career. — Montesquieu's  early  works ;  their  scientific 
character; — his  "Discourse  on  the  cause  of  echoes,"  1718;  and  on 


THE   DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL          283 

allusion  be  to  Philippe  d'Orleans  himself ;  and  the 
obscure  men  whose  "low  estate  is  ennobled"  by  the 
profession  of  atheism  or  libertinism  are  also  known  to  us : 
they  are  the  wits  who  assemble  at  the  Cafe  Procope  or 
the  Cafe  Gradot,  and  among  them  is  the  "little  Arouet," 
as  he  is  called,  who  the  previous  year  was  imprisoned  in 
the  Bastille.  If  they  have  not  their  entry  into  society 
as  yet,  it  will  soon  be  given  them,  and  to  deserve  it  they 
adopt,  or  rather  they  have  already  adopted,  society 
manners.  They  are  met  with  in  the  salons,  in  that  of 
Mme  de  Lambert  for  instance,  and  in  these  resorts 
the  freedom  of  their  conversation  beguiles  the  idleness 
of  the  women  and  the  careless  humour  of  the  men. 
They  even  find  their  way  into  the  boudoirs,  and  there 
as  well  their  wit  is  triumphant  over  social  prejudices. 
In  the  meantime,  and  until  they  form  a  sort  of  corpo- 

the  "  Functions  of  the  renal  glands,"  1718; — and  that  traces  of  this 
scientific  culture  will  be  met  with  in  the  Esprit  des  Lois. — Strangeness 
of  his  literary  tastes; — his  admiration  for  the  tragedies  of  Cre  billon, 
"  which,  he  declares,  make  him  enter  into  transports  akin  to  those 
of  the  Bacchantes  "  ; — he  publishes  his  Lettres  persanes,  1721-1722. 

A.  The  Lettres  persanes  ; — and  in  the  first  place  the  bibliographical 
question ; — Pierre  Marteau  of  Cologne  and  his  spurious  editions. — The 
works  that  suggested  the  Lettres  persanes ; — and  that  it  is  doing 
Dufresny  too  much  honour  to  assert  that  they  were  solely  suggested 
by  his  Amusements  serieux  et  comiques. — The  truth  is  Montesquieu 
was  influenced,  as  much  as  by  Dufresny,  by  the  Caracteres  of  La 
Bruyere  and  the  Diable  boiteux  of  Le  Sage ; — by  Fenelon's  Tele- 
maque  [Cf.  the  episode  of  the  Troglodytes] ;— by  the  books  of  travel  of 
Tavernier  and  Chardin  ; — and  even  by  the  Arabian  Nights. — Kegret- 
table  dwelling  on  the  intrigues  of  the  harem  in  the  Lettres  2>ersanes  ; 
and  that  Montesquieu  will  never  renounce  the  depiction  of  scenes  of 
this  nature  [Cf.  his  Temple  de  Gnide;  Arsace  et  Ismenie,  etc.]. — 
The  satire  of  contemporary  manners  in  the  Lettres  persane&  [Cf.  in 
particular  Lettres  48,  57,  72, 148,  etc.]  ; — and  that  it  strikes  far  deeper 
than  the  satire  of  Le  Sage  or  Le  Bruyere  [Cf.  24,  29,  44,  68,  etc.]. — 
The  last  portion  of  the  book — and  of  the  singular  importance  the 


284  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY"  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

rate  body,  or  almost  a  State  within  the  State,  the  rich 
and  persons  of  good  birth  are  at  first  a  little  astonished, 
and  affect  to  be  galled,  but  they  do  not  take  real  umbrage, 
and  reconcile  themselves  in  the  end  to  being  treated  with 
the  unrestraint  and  pleasant  impertinence  they  themselves 
in  the  past  had  shown  the  newcomers. 

It  must  be  kept  in  view  in  this  connection  that  for 
several  years  previously  a  curious  mixing  up  of  social 
ranks  and  fortunes  has  been  in  progress.  "  The  corpo- 
ration of  lackeys — writes  Montesquieu  in  his  Lettres 
persanes  in  1721 — is  more  respectable  in  France  than 
elsewhere ;  it  fills  up  the  vacancies  in  the  other  classes. 
Those  who  compose  it  take  the  places  of  the  great  who 
fall  upon  evil  days,  and  when  they  cannot  do  this  in 
person  they  reinvigorate  the  great  families  by  means  of 
their  daughters,  who  serve  in  some  sort  as  the  manure 

author  ascribes  in  it,  long  before  Malthus,  to  the  population  question 
[Cf.  113  to  123]. — His  perpetual  comparisons  between  Europe  and 
Asia. — Great  guccess  of  the  Lettres  persanes  ; — Montesquieu  resigns 
his  post  of  President,  1726 ;— he  enters  the  French  Academy,  1728  ; — 
and  undertakes  a  series  of  journeys, — in  the  course  of  which  he 
becomes  acquainted  with  almost  the  whole  of  civilised  Europe, 
1728-1731  [Cf.  Voyages  de  Montesquieu,  Paris  and  Bordeaux,  1892, 
1894,  1896]. — He  takes  up  his  residence  on  his  property  at  Brede; — 
and  publishes  his  Considerations  in  1734. 

B.  The  Considerations  sur  les  Causes  de  la  grandeur  et  de  la 
decadence  des  Romains. — What  was  Montesquieu's  intention  in 
writing  this  work ; — and  whether  it  should  not  perhaps  be  regarded 
as  a  "fragment"  of  the  Esprit  des  Lois; — or  whether  the  author 
really  proposed  to  vie  "with  Tacitus  and  with  Florus  "  ? — Montes- 
quieu's predilection  for  Florus  [Cf.  his  Essai  sur  le  gout]  ; — and 
generally  for  the  Latins  of  the  decadence ; — a  predilection  which  does 
not  prevent  him  blaming  Livy  "  for  having  belauded  the  giants  of 
antiquity." — Comparison  between  Montesquieu's  book  and  the  third 
part  of  the  Discours  sur  Vhistoire  universelle ; — and  to  what  extent 
it  was  Montesquieu's  intention  to  combat  Bossuet. — His  theory  of  the 
causes  ; — and  his  philosophy  of  history. 


THE   DEFORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL         285 

with  which  mountainous  and  arid  land  is  improved " 
[Cf.  Lettres  persanes,  No.  99].  La  Bruyere  had  made 
a  somewhat  similar  remark  in  his  Caracteres.  The 
second  part  of  Gil  Bias  should  be  read  in  the  same 
connection.  Its  date  is  1725,  and  in  it  figures  a  lackey 
who  becomes  the  arbiter  of  the  Spanish  monarchy  "by 
dint  of  filling  disgraceful  posts."  As  to  any  hesitation 
there  may  be  to  ascribe  "  documentary  "  value,  political 
significance,  or  social  import  to  this  novel,  it  will  be 
lessened  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  effective  masters 
of  Europe  on  the  eve  of  its  appearance  were  a  Dubois, 
the  son  of  the  apothecary  of  Brive-la-Gaillarde,  or  an 
Alberoni,  the  son  of  a  gardener  of  Parma !  The  Lettres 
historiques  et  galcuntes  of  Mine  Dunoyer  or  the  Memoirs 
of  Saint- Simon  should  also  be  consulted  on  the  point. 
It  is  of  special  importance,  however,  to  bear  in  mind 

C.  The  Esprit  des  Lois. — The  bond  of  union  between  the  Lettres 
persanes  and  the  Esprit  des  Lois ; — and  in  what  sense  it  may  be  said 
that  in  reality  Montesquieu  has  only  written  one  work. — Of  the  plan 
of  the  book ; — and  that  it  must  be  that  it  is  not  clear ; — since  every 
one  of  Montesquieu's  commentators  gives  a  different  explanation  of  it. 
— That  Montesquieu's  real  ambition  was  to  write  a  great  book ; — in 
which  he  was  only  half  successful. — Indefiniteness  of  his  plan ; — 
regrettable  trend  of  his  humour ; — Inadequacy  or  triflingness  of  his 
criticism  [Cf.  Voltaire's  commentary]. — Of  certain  errors  he  was 
pleased  to  let  subsist  in  his  book  [Cf.  bk.  vii.,  ch.  16 ;  bk.  xv.,  ch.  4 ; 
bk.  xxi.,  ch.  22]  ; — and  what  can  have  been  his  reasons  for  not 
correcting  them? — What  was  Sainte-Beuve's  meaning  when  he  de- 
clared "that  Montesquieu's  works  were  scarcely  more  than  an  ideal 
recapitulation  of  his  reading  "  ; — and  that  the  statement  amounts  to 
saying  that  they  are  deficient  in  order  and  logic. — Of  Mme  du 
Deffand's  remark  on  the  Esprit  des  Lois ; — and  that  it  well  charac- 
terises the  defects  of  Montesquieu's  manner. — But  that  all  these 
criticisms  do  not  do  away  with  the  fact  that  Montesquieu  brought  an 
entire  order  of  ideas  into  the  domain  of  literature,  which  before  had 
not  formed  part  of  it ; — that  he  was  the  first  to  outline  a  philosophy 
of  history  conceived  from  a  purely  lay  point  of  view ; — that  he  arrived 


286     MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

the  upheaval  wrought  in  social  conditions  by  the 
system  of  Law,  1716-1721,  nothing  similar  to  which 
had  previously  been  known.  "  All  those  who  were 
wealthy  six  months  ago  are  now  in  poverty,  and  those 
who  lacked  bread  are  now  overflowing  in  riches.  .  .  . 
This  foreigner  has  turned  society  inside  out  as  a  dealer  in 
old  clothes  turns  a  coat.  .  .  .  What  unhoped  for  fortunes 
have  been  witnessed,  fortunes  incredible  even  to  those 
who  have  made  them  !  God  himself  does  not  bring  men 
into  existence  more  rapidly  out  of  the  void.  How  nume- 
rous are  the  valets  served  by  their  comrades,  and  to-morrow 
perhaps  by  their  masters !  "  [Cf.  Lettres  persanes,  No. 
138] .  The  words  are  again  those  of  Montesquieu,  who, 
though  doubtless  he  was  a  satirist,  was  a  serious  man  and 
a  magistrate.  Like  the  froth  in  a  boiling  mixture,  the 
dregs  of  society  rise  to  the  surface  in  this  way,  overspread 

at  an  inkling  of  the  analogies  between  history  and  natural  history ; — 
and,  from  a  more  general  point  of  view,  that  he  gave  eloquent  expres- 
sion to  ideas, — on  liberty, — on  tolerance, — and  on  humanity- — which 
even  at  the  present  time  are  not  so  commonplace  and  so  prevalent 
as  is  alleged. — Success  of  the  Esprit  des  Lois  both  in  France  and 
abroad ; — and  whether  the  defects  of  the  book  did  not  contribute  to 
its  success  to  as  great  an  extent  as  its  qualities  ? 

Montesquieu's  lesser  writings :  the  Temple  de  Gnide,  1725 ; — the 
Voyage  a  Paphos,  1727 ; — the  dialogue  between  Sylla  and  Eucrates, 
1745;  Lysimaque,  1751-1754; — Arsace  et  Ismenie,  1754; — and  the 
Essai  sur  le  gout,  1757. — Of  the  qualities  of  Montesquieu's  style ; 
— and  that  it  is  a  kindred  style  to  that  of  Fontenelle ; — although 
graver,  richer,  and  more  compact ;- — and,  in  this  connection,  of 
Montesquieu's  preciosity. — Of  the  art  of  and  the  capacity  for  con- 
ceiving general  ideas ; — and  that  they  constitute  another  pre-eminent 
characteristic  of  Montesquieu's  style ; — as  does  the  power  of  ex- 
pressing in  a  few  words  not  only  many  things, — but  many  different 
things,  and  in  consequence  many  relations  between  things. — Montes- 
quieu's last  years. — He  is  on  intimate  terms  with  Mine  de  Tencin 
and  Mme  Geoffrin  [Cf.  Marmontel's  Memoirs,  and  P.  de  Segur, 
Le  royaume  de  la  rue  Saint-Honor  e,  Paris,  1897]. — His  unique 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL          287 

it  and  remain  at  the  top.  A  new  aristocracy  is  in  course 
of  formation,  an  aristocracy  of  doubtful  or  impure  origin, 
crassly  ignorant,  cynical  and  of  loose  morals,  but  refined 
in  its  tastes  and  assuredly  unable  to  reproach  the  men  of 
letters  with  their  humble  extraction,  since  of  the  brothers 
Paris  or  of  the  little  Arouet  it  is  the  latter  who  is  the 
"better  born." 

Amid  this  general  confusing  of  the  classes,  or  rather  in 
consequence  of  it,  the  influence  of  women  continues  to 
increase,  and  with  the  Marquise  de  Prie,  under  the 
Ministry  of  the  Due  de  Bourbon  (1723-1726)  it  extends 
to  affairs  of  State  for  the  first  time  for  a  century.  Mine 
de  Lambert  only  made  Academicians ;  the  Marquise  de 
Prie  makes  a  Queen  of  France,  Mme  de  Tencin  cardinals 
and  ambassadors.  "  There  is  nobody — writes  Montes- 
quieu— in  possession  of  a  post  at  the  court  in  Paris  or 

position  in  the  literary  world ; — and  in  the  European  opinion  of 
his  time. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Montesquieu's  principal  works  have  been  men- 
tioned above.  It  remains  to  add  a  hundred  and  fifty  or  a  hundred 
and  sixty  (exactly  152  in  Laboulaye's  edition)  letters ; — and  three 
volumes  of  Unpublished  Works  issued  by  Baron  de  Montesquieu 
[Paris  and  Bordeaux,  1892,  1894,  1896]. 

The  principal  edition  of  Montesquieu,  independently  of  the  original 
editions  which  it  is  well  to  consult,  at  any  rate  in  the  case  of  the 
Lettres  persanes  and  the  Esprit  des  Lois,  are : — Parrelle's  edition  in 
the  "  Collection  des  Classiques  fran9ais  "  series,  Paris,  1826,  Lefevre  ; 
— and  Laboulaye's  edition,  Paris,  1875-1879,  Gamier. 

II.— Pierre  Carlet  de  Chamblain  de  Marivaux  [Paris, 
1688;  f  1763,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — D'Alembert,  Eloge  de  Marivaux,  1785;  Mar- 
montel's  Memoirs  ; — Geoffrey,  Cours  de  litterature  dramatique,  1825, 
vol.  iii. ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Marivaux  in  the  Causeries  dulundi,\o\.  ix., 
1854  ; — Edouard  Fournier,  Etude  sur  Marivaux,  preceding  his  edition 
of  the  Theatre  complet,  Paris,  1878 ; — Lescure,  Eloge  de  Marivaux, 
Paris,  1880 ; — Jean  Fleury,  Marivaux  et  le  Marivaudage,  Paris,  1881 ; 


288    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

in  the  provinces  who  has  not  a  woman  who  distributes 
all  the  favours  it  is  in  his  power  to  bestow  and  who 
sometimes  commits  the  injustices  he  is  able  to  perpetrate  "  ; 
and  naturally  this  "  woman  "  is  not  his  wife.  In  conse- 
quence, it  is  necessary  henceforth  that  whoever  desires  to 
make  his  way  in  the  world  shall  have  the  women  on  his 
side,  shall  possess  the  gift  of  pleasing  them  and  of 
interesting  them  in  his  fortunes  or  his  reputation.  The 
writers  of  the  period  are  alive  to  this  necessity ;  and  it 
must  be  admitted  that  although  their  complaisancy  is  not 
without  its  dangers — the  least  of  which  is  to  make  them, 
as  were  their  predecessors  the  Precieux,  the  servants  or 
the  courtiers  of  fashion — it  results  in  the  first  place  in  an 
advantage.  "  The  somewhat  volatile  and  inconstant 
French  character,  chilled  by  convention  and  artificiality, 
seems  to  gain  in  wrarmth  to  a  sensible  extent"  [Cf. 

— G.  Larroumet,  Marivaux,  sa  vie  et  ses  aeuvres,  Paris,  1882 ; — F. 
Brunetiere,  Etudes  critiques,  vol.  ii.  and  vol.  iii.,  1881  and  1883;  and 
Epoques  du  theatre  francais,  1892; — G.  Deschamps,  Marivaux  in  the 
"  Grands  Ecrivains  fran9ais"  series,  Paris,  1897. 

2.  THE  WRITER. — Marivaux'  family. — His  early  education ; — the 
society  in  which  he  moved  in  Paris  at  first ; — his  early  protectors  or 
literary  patrons  :  Fontenelle  and  La  Motte. — His  tragedy  Annibal. — 
His  first  novel :  Pharsamon  ou  lesfolies  romanesques,  1712 ; — and  how 
Marivaux,  considered  as  a  Precieux,  goes  back  to  the  Grand  Cyrus 
and  to  Polexandre. — His  contempt  for  antiquity  :  the  Iliade  travestie, 
1716  ;— and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  peculiarly  spiteful  character  of 
Marivaux'  parodies. 

A.  The  Novelist. — His  Effets  suprenants  de  la  sympathie,  1713- 
1714 ; — the  Voiture  embourbee,  1714  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the 
poverty  of  Marivaux'  imagination  ; — the  Vie  de  Marianne,  1731-1741 ; 
and  the  Paysan  parvenu,  1735-1736. — Essential  characteristics  of 
Marivaux'  novels. — They  are  realistic  novels  as  far  as  regards :  the 
social  status  of  the  personages, — who  are  usually  middle-class  or  lower 
middle-class ; — the  simplicity  of  the  plot ; — and  the  faithfulness  with 
which  they  depict  every-day  life.  In  the  second  place  they  are 
psychological  novels ; — whose  principal  interest  lies  solely  in  the 


THE   DEFORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL          289 

Michelet,  Histoire  de  France ;  Louis  XV, ,] ;  and  thanks 
to  the  women,  and  with  a  view  to  their  conquest,  sensi- 
bility is  emancipated  from  the  strict  and  suspicious 
tutelage  in  which  it  had  been  kept  by  the  masters  of  the 
preceding  age. 

Timidly  at  first,  but  soon  with  growing  boldness,  it  is 
seen  to  show  itself,  to  attempt  its  first  exploits  in  the 
comedies  of  Marivaux  : — the  Jeu  de  I' amour  et  du  hasard, 
1730 ;  the  Serments  indiscrets,  1732 ;  the  Mere  confidente, 
1735 ;  the  Fausses  confidences,  1737, — in  a  dozen  other 
plays  which  not  only  revenge  women  for  the  slights  of 
Moliere,  but  bring  comedy  under  the  control  of  their  sex, 
firmly  establish  this  control  and  ensure  its  lasting  mainte- 
nance. Of  a  surety  there  is  wit,  indeed  too  much  wit, 
there  is  studied  elegance  and  subtlety,  and  there  is  exces- 
sive refinement  of  ideas  and  expression  (tnarivaudage)  in 

analysis  of  sentiment ; — the  adventures  in  them  being  of  slight 
importance ; — so  slight  indeed  even  in  the  eyes  of  the  author  him- 
self, that  Marianne  and  the  Paysan  remained  unfinished. — Finally 
they  are  novels  if  not  of  love  at  any  rate  of  gallantry ; — which  dis- 
tinguishes them  from  Le  Sage's  novels. — Whether,  too,  they  are 
as  "  decent "  and  as  moral  as  has  been  alleged  ? — Comparison  in  this 
respect  between  Gil  Bias  and  the  Paysan. — Of  Marivaux'  curious 
predilection  for  domestic  servants. 

B.  The  Dramatic  Author  ; — and  that  his  threefold  originality  con- 
sists in : — his  having  ceased  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Moliere ; — his 
having  transported  the  tragedy  of  Racine  into  ordinary  life  ; — and  his 
having  made  his  plots  turn  more  especially  on  the  transformation  of  the 
sentiments  :  the  Double  inconstance,  1723  ; — the  Seconde  surprise  de 
V  amour,  1728 ; — the  Jeu  de  I 'amour  et  du  hasard,  1730 ; — the  Faussess 
confidences,  1737  ; — the  Epreuve,  1740. — The  criticisms  of  his  contem- 
poraries and  Marivaux's  rejoinder. — "  All  his  pieces  turn  on  the 
delivery  of  lovers  from  a  predicament  in  which  they  are  involved  by 
false  pride,  timidity,  the  difficulty  of  coming  to  an  explanation,  or 
social  inequalities." — Importance  of  the  women's  parts  in  Marivaux' 
plays. — The  originality  that  accrues  to  his  pieces  from  the  impor- 
tance of  the  women's  parts  as  seen  in : — the  curtailing  of  the  role 

20 


290    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

the  masterpieces  of  Marivaux :  where  else  would  these 
characteristics  be  looked  for  if  not  in  his  plays?  His 
comedies,  too,  are  marked  by  a  coldness,  and  even  by 
an  irony,  which  he  seems  to  have  inherited  from  Fon- 
tenelle,  his  friend  and  master.  Still,  sensibility  is  the 
soul  of  his  writings,  even  though  it  does  not  occupy 
the  entire  place  in  them ;  for  if  there  be  one  quality 
it  is  impossible  to  deny  the  Aramintas  and  Silvias  of 
this  gallant  man,  it  is  assuredly  that  of  being  what  is 
called  "touching."  Voltaire's  Zaire  (1732)  and  his 
"American"  Alzire  (1736)  are  more  than  touching: 
they  are  pathetic.  As  a  good  judge  has  well  remarked 
[Cf.  A.  Yinet,  Literature  frangaise  au  XVIP  siecle,  vol. 
ii.  pp.  24,  37] ,  it  is  insufficient  to  say  that  their  adven- 
tures stir  our  feelings :  they  positively  distress  us.  In  this 
respect — as  in  several  others — Voltaire's  tragedies  are  as 

played  by  satire  ; — the  increased  importance  accorded  the  sentimental 
element  in  the  very  conception  of  comedy ; — and  the  revolution  in 
matters  theatrical  that  is  the  necessary  consequence  of  these  features. 
— Marivaux'  comedies  and  Watteau's  pictures.- — Marivaux  and  Shake- 
speare ; — and  that  together  with  the  vaguely  poetic  background  and 
the  Italian  names, — what  is  most  Shakespearian  in  Marivaux, — is 
perhaps  the  "  marivaudage." — "  Marivaudage  "  and  "  Euphuism."- 
Marivaux'  preciosity,  however,  does  not  prevent  him  being  often 
somewhat  blunt ; — and  even  at  times  coarse.- — The  Jeu  de  V amour  et 
du  hasard  and  Victor  Hugo's  Buy  Bias. 

C.  The  Publicist. — A  remark  of  Sainte-Beuve  touching  "  certain 
serious  sides  of  Marivaux'  mind  "  ; — and  that  evidence  of  them  must 
be  sought  for  in  his  "  papers." — The  Speciateur  francais,  1722-1723  ; 
— and  that  the  idea  of  this  production  is  evidently  taken  from  Addison's 
Spectator. — The  Indigent  philosophe,  1728,  and  the  Cabinet  du 
philosophe,  1734. — Borrowings  from  these  works  made  by  the  author 
of  the  Neveu  de  Bameau  and  that  of  the  Mariage  de  Figaro  [Cf. 
Brunetiere,  Etudes  critiques,  vol.  iii.]. — Of  certain  of  Marivaux' 
ideas; — on  criticism; — on  the  organisation  of  a  literary  "marshal- 
ship"; — on  the  status  of  women  and  on  the  education  of  children; — on 
the  inequality  of  human  conditions. — To  what  extent  did  Marivaux 


THE   DEFORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL          291 

much  superior  to  those  of  Crebillon  or  La  Motte,  as  Mari- 
vaux'  comedies  are  superior  to  those  of  Destouches  or  even 
of  Regnard.  And  after  making  allowance  for  the  "roman- 
tic" and  the  "melodramatic"  elements  in  Voltaire's  crea- 
tions, is  it  going  too  far  to  say  that  after  a  lapse  of  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  his  Alzire,  and  more  especially  his  Zaire, 
still  make  us  shed  real  tears  ?  But  there  is  another  poet 
who  causes  the  shedding  of  yet  more  abundant  tears :  we 
refer  to  the  author  of  Manon  Lescaut,  1731 ;  of  Cleveland, 
1733  ;  of  the  Doyen  de  Killerine,  1735,  to  the  kindly, 
soft-hearted,  sentimental  Abbe  Prevost.  Tempered  or 
restrained  in  the  case  of  Marivaux  by  a  certain  dread  of 
ridicule,  and  mingled  in  Voltaire's  tragedies  with  other 
novelties,  sensibility  overflows  in  Prevost's  novels.  It  is  the 
sole  source  both  of  their  inspiration  and  of  their  attractive- 
ness. A  superficial  observer  of  the  manners  of  his  time, 

himself  takes  his  ideas  seriously  ? — and  how  his  work  paved  the  way 
for  the  generation  to  which  Vauvenargues  and  Eousseau  belonged. 
3.  THE  WORKS. — Marivaux'  works  comprise  : — 

(1)  His   short   writings,   of  which   we   have  just   mentioned   the 
principal,  and  to  which  may  be  added,  with  a  view  to  making  the 
enumeration   sufficiently  complete,  sundry   articles   written  for  the 
Mercure. 

(2)  His  plays,  of  which  there  are  thirty-two  in  all,  the  principal 
being :  Arlequin  poh  par  V amour,   1720  ; — La  surprise  de  V amour, 
1722; — La  double  inconstance,  1723; — Le  prince  travesti,  1724; — La 
seconde  surprise  de  V amour,  1728  ; — Le  jeu  de  V amour  et  du  liasard, 
1730; — Les  serments  indiscrets,  1732; — L'heureux  stratageme,  1733; 
— La  Mere  confidente,  1735  ; — Le  legs,  1736 ; — Les  fausses  confidences, 
1737  ; — L'epreuve,  1740 ; — and  Le  prejuge  vaincu,  1746. 

(3)  His  novels  :  Pharsamon,  1712,  but  not  published  till  1737  ; — the 
Effets    surprenants    de    la    sympathie,    1713-1714 ; — the     Voiiure 
embourbee,  1714 ; — the  Vie  de  Marianne,  in  eleven  parts,  1731-1741 
[The  twelfth  part,  which  is  not  found  in  all  editions,  is  by  Mme 
Riccoboni]  ; — and  the  Paysan parvenu,  in  five  parts,  1735-1736.    There 
remain  for   mention  the  Iliade  travestie,  1716,  and  the  Telemaque 
travesti,  1736. 


292    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

a  copious,  fluent,  and  harmonious,  but  an  unequal  and 
negligent  writer,  Prevost's  chief  originality  and  bond  of 
union  with  his  readers  lies  in  the  readiness  with  which 
his  feelings  are  stirred  by  his  own  imaginings ;  they  inte- 
rest him,  they  trouble  him  profoundly.  He  weeps,  he  is 
an  adept  at  weeping — if  the  expression  be  allowable ;  and 
his  whole  century  starts  weeping  with  him. 

This  incursion  of  sensibility  into  literature  deals  the 
classic  ideal  a  second,  a  serious  and  a  profound  blow  :  the 
first,  as  we  have  seen,  proceeded  from  the  renunciation  of 
tradition.  For  while  it  is  impossible,  as  has  been  rightly 
observed,  "  to  make  languages  that  are  perpetually  chang- 
ing the  vehicle  of  anything  that  is  eternal"  [Cf.  Bossuet, 
Discours  de  reception],  it  is  equally  true  that  that  char- 
acter of  eternity  which  is  the  very  condition  or  the  definition 
of  the  work  of  art  cannot  be  conferred  on  what  itself  is 


The  best  edition  of  Marivaux,  or  up  to  now  the  most  complete 
edition,  for  it  is  not  particularly  good,  is  the  edition  of  1781  in  12 
volumes,  Paris,  Vve  Duchesne. 

III.— Antoine-FranQois  Prevost  d'Exiles  [Hesdin,  1697  ;  f 
1763,  St.  Firmin,  near  Chantilly]. 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — Prevost's  own  novels,  and   in   particular  :    the 
.      Memoires  d'un  homme  de  qualite ;  Cleveland ;  and  the  Histoire  de 

M.  de  Montcal  [Cf.  too  his  journal:  Le  Pour  et  Contre], — Bernard 
d'Hery's  Notice  preceding  the  editions  of  1783  and  1810 ; — Sainte- 
Beuve,  Portraits  litteraires,  vols.  i.  and  iii. ;  and  Causeries  du  lundi, 
vol.  ix.,  1853  ; — Ambroise  Firmin-Didot,  article  PRKVOST  in  the 
Biographic  universelle ; — A.  de  Montaiglon's  biographical  notice  at 
the  end  of  Glady  freres'  edition  of  Manon  Lescaut,  1875,  Paris  ; — F. 
Brunetiere,  Etudes  critiques,  vol.  iii.  ; — Henry  Harrisse,  I' 'Abbe 
Prevost,  1896,  Paris ; — and  the  Notices  preceding  various  editions  of 
Manon  Lescaut,  notably  those  by  Alexandre  Dumas  fils  and  Guy  de 
Maupassant. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  NOVELIST. — His  adventurous  youth. — Jesuit, 
soldier,  and  Benedictine,  1721. — He  helps  with  the  Gallia  Christiana. 
— He  leaves  the  Benedictines,  1728 ; — publishes  the  first  part  of  the 


THE    DEFOKMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL          293 

changeable ;  and  what  is  more  changeable  than  the  sensi- 
bility of  one  man  with  regard  to  another,  or  of  the  same 
man  at  different  moments  ?  Who  was  it  declared  in  this 
connection  that  sensibility  "being  a  disposition  that  accom- 
panies organic  weakness,  that  results  from  the  mobility 
of  the  diaphragm,  from  the  vivacity  of  the  imagination, 
from  the  sensitiveness  of  the  nerves,  a  disposition  which 
inclines  us  to  sympathise,  to  be  thrilled,  to  fear,  to  admire, 
to  weep,  to  faint,  to  succour,  to  cry  aloud,  to  take  to 
flight,  to  lose  our  reason,  to  have  no  exact  idea  of  the 
true,  the  good,  and  the  beautiful,  to  be  unjust,  to  be  mad," 
that  sensibility,  for  all  these  reasons,  was  merely  the 
"characteristic  of  a  kindly  nature  and  of  a  mediocre 
genius  "?  It  was  Diderot  who  made  this  declaration  in  a 
moment  of  frankness  [Cf .  his  Paradoxe  sur  le  comedien'] ; 
and  the  fact  is  that  it  seems  that  sensibility,  left  free  to 

Memoires  d'un  liomme  de  qualite,  1728; — and  visits  England ; — and 
afterwards  Holland  [Cf.  Memoires  du  Chevalier  de  Ravannes,  and 
Melanges  de  Bois-Jourdain]. — The  first  edition  of  Manon  Lescaut, 
1731  or  1733  ?— He  returns  to  France. — Publication  of  Cleveland,  1731 ; 
— Le  Pour  et  le  Contre,  1733. — Prevost  writes  for  the  booksellers ; — 
Le  Doyen  de  Killerine,  1735. — He  becomes  "  almoner  to  the  Prince 
de  Conti." 

These  details  help  to  an  understanding  of  Prevost's  novels : — he 
may  truthfully  be  said  to  have  lived  his  works  ; — the  desultory  char- 
acter of  which  is  explained  by  the  hasards  of  his  existence ; — more- 
over, such  of  his  work  as  he  did  not  "  live,"  he  "  felt "  rather  than 
"  imagined." — The  sombre  and  melancholic  character  of  Prevost's 
novels ; — and  how  greatly  they  differ  from  the  novels  of  Le  Sage  and 
Marivaux. — The  passion  of  love  in  Prevost's  novels  ; — how  they  are 
almost  exclusively  occupied  with  it ; — and  that  it  offers  in  them  the 
same  features  of  suddenness  ; — violence  ; — and  fatality  as  in  Racine's 
tragedies. — It  is  this  circumstance  that  constitutes  the  conspicuous 
merit  of  Manon  Lescaut,  and  not  the  fact  that  the  novel  is  a  sketch 
of  the  courtesan. — The  depiction  of  manners  in  Prevost's  novels ; 
— and  how  insignificant  or  superficial  it  is. — Prevost's  novels 
are  idealist  novels ; — moreover,  they  are  not  in  the  least  degree 


pursue  the  impetuous  irregularity  of  its  course,  has  never 
produced  in  any  age  or  in  any  branch  of  literature  work 
that  is  other  than  inferior  or  of  secondary  importance. 
The  novels  of  Prevost  himself  or  the  comedies  of  De  la 
Chaussee  [La  Fausse  antipathic,  1733 ;  Le  prejuge  a 
la  mode,  1735 ;  Melanide ;  La  gouvernante]  may  serve 
as  excellent  examples  in  point !  If  the  reason  of  this 
be  asked,  it  is  again  Diderot  who  furnishes  it  when  he 
remarks  that  "the  man  whose  sensibility  is  highly  de- 
veloped is  too  much  at  the  mercy  of  his  diaphragm  .  .  . 
to  be  a  profound  observer  of  and  in  consequence  a  sublime 
imitator  of  nature."  Here,  indeed,  we  have  a  man  who 
knows  himself !  What  we  see  through  a  cloud  of  tears, 
— he  is  entirely  in  the  right ! — is  indistinct,  confused, 
and  uncertain,  and  one  of  the  first  effects  of  this 
untrammelled  indulgence  in  sensibility  is  to  modify  pro- 
psychological  ; — and  their  style  is  that  proper  to  passion ; — that  is  to 
say,  it  rises  at  times  to  the  highest  eloquence ; — and  descends  in 
places  to  the  lowest  depths  of  the  commonplace ; — while  it  is  always 
easy,  harmonious,  copious,  and  prolix. 

Prevost's  last  years ; — and  his  role  of  intermediary  between  the 
literatures  of  England  and  France ; — his  translations  of  Richardson  : 
Pamela,  Clarisse,  Grandison  ; — of  Hume's  History  of  England  ; — and 
of  Middleton's  Life  of  Cicero. — He  writes  for  the  Journal  etranger; — 
and  is  one  of  the  authors  of  the  Histoire  generale  des  voyages. — His 
relations  with  Eousseau  ; — and  that  he  and  Marivaux  are  the  only 
men  of  letters  to  whom  sympathetic  allusion  is  made  hi  the  Con- 
fessions ; — natural  reasons  for  this  sympathy  ; — and  the  interest  of 
this  remark. — Of  certain  information  respecting  Prevost's  novels ; — 
and  in  particular  that  furnished  by  Mile  Aisse ; — and  by  Mile  de 
Lespinasse. — The  legend  of  Prevost's  death  [Cf.  Henry  Harrisse, 
L'Abbe  Prevost~\. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  works  of  Prevost  are  composed  of  his  novels, 
among  which  we  will  mention  : — the  Memoir -es  d'un  homme  de  qualite, 
of  which  Manon  Lescaut  forms  the  seventh  part,  1728,  1731 ; — the 
Histoire  de  M.  Cleveland,  1731 ; — the  Doyen  de  Killerine,  1735-1740 ; 
— the  Histoire  d'une  Grecque  moderne,  1740  ;  —  the  Campagnes 


THE    DEFORMATION   OP   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL          295 

foundly  the  observation  of  nature,  and  the  nature  of 
this  observation. 

The  great  writers  of  the  preceding  generation  had  not  fore- 
seen that  the  consequence  of  making  a  certain  social  ten- 
dency a  constituent  part  of  the  classic  ideal  would  one  day  be 
to  cause  the  realisation  of  beauty  and  the  imitation  of  nature 
to  be  held  of  less  account  than  the  pleasing  the  fashionable 
world,  or  than  considerations  of  social  utility  !  This,  how- 
ever, is  what  happens.  The  psychological  and  moral 
observation,  which  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  had  been 
the  basis  or  the  pedestal  of  the  classic  ideal,  gives  place  to 
social  observation.  "  Man  is  in  no  way  an  enigma,  as  you 
imagine  him  to  be  in  order  to  have  the  pleasure  of 
solving  it.  ...  There  is  no  more  apparent  contradiction 
in  man  than  in  the  rest  of  nature.  .  .  .  What  intelligent 
man  is  there  who  will  be  filled  with  despair  because  he  is 

philosophiques  ou  les  Meinoires  de  M.  de  Montcal,  1741; — and  the 
Meinoires  d'un  honnete  homme,  1745. 

He  also  wrote  almost  the  whole  of  Pour  et  Contre,  1733-1740 ; 
— further  he  translated  or  adapted  all  of  Richardson's  work,  several 
volumes  of  Hume,  etc. ; — and  wrote,  it  is  said,  the  first  17  volumes 
of  the  Histoire  generate  des  voyages,  1745-1761. 

There  exist  two  editions  of  Prevost's  works,  joined  to  those  of  Le 
Sage,  and  forming  in  all  54  volumes,  39  of  which  are  occupied  by 
Prevost's  writings.  These  editions  were  issued  in  Paris  in  1783  and  in 
1810-1816. 

The  editions  of  Hanon  Lescaut  are  innumerable. 

IV.— Pierre  Claude  Nivelle  de  la  Chaussee  [Paris,  1691  or 

1692;  f  1754,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — D'Alembert,  Eloge  de  La  Chaussee ; — Geoffrey, 
Cours   de   litterature  dramatique,  vol.  iii.  ; — Lanson,  Nivelle  de  la 
Chaussee  et  la  comedie  larmoyante,  Paris,  1887. 

2.  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  "  MIDDLE-CLASS"  DRAMA. — La  Chaussee's 
first  successful  work  :  La  fausse  antipathic,  1733  ; — and  that  his  fresh 
departure  consisted  less  in  his  having  "  mixed  "  the  branches  of  the 
drama, — Marivaux  having  already  done  that  in  his  comedies, — than  in 


acquainted  with  only  some  few  of  the  attributes  of  matter?  " 
[Voltaire,  Beuchot's  edition,  vol.  37,  pp.  41,  46].  It 
is  in  these  terms  that  Voltaire  combats  Pascal,  and  the 
truth  is  that  all  these  questions  have  ceased  to  interest 
either  Voltaire  or  his  contemporaries.  He  believes  he 
knows  all  about  man  that  can  be  known ;  he  esteems 
that  the  time  is  past  for  man  to  resort  to  introspection  : 
in  sese  descendere  as  Montaigne  put  it ;  and  that  on  the 
contrary  the  moment  has  come  for  man  to  look  beyond 
himself.  And  here  we  have  the  explanation  of  that 
universal  curiosity  to  which  his  Charles  XII.,  1732,  his 
Zaire,  1732,  his  Lettres  anglaises,  1734,  and  a  little  later 
his  Essai  sur  les  mceurs,  bear  convincing  witness.  His 
contemporaries,  with  the  single  exception  of  Vauvenargues, 
are  of  his  opinion.  They  too  believe  that  they  have  a 
sufficient  knowledge  of  man,  of  his  inner  promptings,  of 

his  having  treated  seriously, — and  turned  to  account  for  tragedies 
dealing  with  middle-class  life, — the  very  same  incidents  of  ordinary 
existence  which  Dancourt,  Destouches,  and  Marivaux  had  made  the 
subject  matter  of  their  plays. — How  this  idea  takes  clearer  shape  in 
the  Prejuge  a  la  mode,  1735  ; — in  the  Ecole  des  amis,  1737  ; — and  in 
Melanide,  1741. — La  Chaussee's  aim  is  to  provoke  the  same  kind  of 
emotion  as  is  aroused  by  tragedy ; — without  having  recourse  to  an 
historical  background ; — to  princely  personages; — or  to  too  violent  pas- 
sions.— That  this  conception  brings  comedy  into  line  with  the  novel; — • 
and  that  hi  point  of  fact  La  Chaussee's  comedies  are  merely  novels ; — 
though  at  the  same  time  they  pave  the  way  for  the  plays  of  Diderot 
and  Beaumarchais. — That,  given  the  character  of  La  Chaussee's 
dramas,  it  was  a  singular  idea  on  his  part  to  write  them  in  verse ; 
— and,  bearing  in  mind  the  nature  of  the  subjects  he  treated 
[Cf.  Lanson,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  170,  175] ,  —  and  the  success  they 
were  to  meet  with  a  little  later, — the  oblivion  into  which  his  plays 
have  fallen  is  perhaps  explained  by  the  fact  that  they  are  in  verse. — 
It  is  difficult  enough  to  write  comedy  in  verse  ; — but  to  write  middle- 
class  drama  in  verse  is  impossible. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — La  Fausse  antipathic,  1733 ; — the  Prejuge  a  la 
mode,  1735 ; — the  Ecole  des  Amis,  1737  ; — Melanide,  1741 ; — Amour 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL          297 

the  secret  motives  of  his  actions,  of  his  passions,  of  his 
instincts  ;  and,  like  Voltaire,  they  are  solely  concerned 
with  depicting  manners.  Whether,  like  Gresset,  whose 
Mediant  dates  from  1747,  they  write  for  the  stage,  or  pride 
themselves  on  being  philosophers  as  was  the  case  with 
Duclos,  whose  Considerations  sur  les  moeurs  will  appear  in 
1750,  their  observation  is  not  only  restricted  to  man  con- 
sidered as  a  member  of  society,  but  it  does  not  attempt  to 
deal  with  the  fundamental  qualities  of  man,  held  to  be 
always  and  in  every  respect  identical.  Voltaire  expressly 
states  that  such  is  his  belief  :  "  Nature,  he  says,  is  every- 
where the  same."  He  is  never  weary  of  repeating  the 
assertion  of  Harlequin:  "  Tutto  il  mondo  e  fatto  come  la 
nostra  famiglia."  His  object  in  studying  history  is  to  dis- 
cover proofs  of  this  saying  ;  and  he  even  styles  his  method 
"  the  philosophic  view  of  history."  Any  differences  on 

pour  amour,  1742 ; — Pamela,  1743 ; — the  Ecole  des  meres,  1744  ; — the 
Rival  de  lui-meme,  1746  ; — the  Gouvernante,  1747  ; — the  Ecole  de 
la  jeunesse,  1749 ; — the  Homme  de  fortune,  1751 ; — the  Retour 
imprevu,  1756. 

La  Chaussee  is  also  the  author  of  a  number  of  somewhat  coarse 
Contes  in  verse  ; — of  an  JZpitre  in  defence  of  the  Ancients,  which,  pub- 
lished in  1731  under  the  title  Epitre  de  Clio,  was  the  beginning  of  his 
literary  reputation ; — and  of  a  wretchedly  bad  tragedy,  Maximien, 
1738. 

The  only  complete  edition  of  La  Chaussee's  works  is  that  published 
in  Paris  by  Prault,  1761-1762. 

V.— The  first  period  of  Voltaire's  life  [1694-1750]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — -The  complete  works  of  Voltaire  himself 
(Beuchot's  edition) ; — and  the  eighteen  volumes  of  his  correspondence 
(Moland's  edition,  Paris  1878-1882)  ; — Condorcet,  Vie  de  Voltaire, 
1787 ; — Or.  Desnoiresterres,  Voltaire  et  la  societe  francaise  au 
XVIII"  stecZe,  2nd  edition,  8  vols.,  Paris,  1871-1876 ;— and* G.  Ben- 
gesco,  Bibliographic  des  ceuvres  de  Voltaire,  4  vols.,  Paris,  1882-1890. 

The  two  last  mentioned  works  summarise  or  refer  the  student  to  the 
majority  of  the  other  books  dealing  with  Voltaire. 


298    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

which  he  may  happen,  in  passing  from  one  epoch  to  another, 
he  ascribes  to  the  slow  "  progress  of  enlightenment."  His 
historical  studies  may  not  give  him  a  very  lofty  idea  of 
human  nature,  but  he  nevertheless  continues  of  opinion 
that  "we  are  a  species  of  monkey  that  can  be  taught  to 
act  either  reasonably  or  unreasonably ' ' :  and  to  afford  us 
such  teaching  is  precisely  the  end  he  has  in  view.  And  in 
this  way  the  conception  is  arrived  at  of  an  universal  man, 
an  extremely  tractable  and  pliable  being,  a  man  who 
remains  everywhere  the  same,  who,  properly  speaking,  is 
neither  a  Frenchman  nor  an  Englishman,  but  "man,"  and 
the  diversity  of  whose  manners  is  only  interesting  so  far 
as  there  seems  a  possibility  of  replacing  it  by  uniformity. 
The  same  idea  underlies  the  Esprit  des  Lois  (1748)  of 
Montesquieu,  unless  indeed  some  other  idea  be  discover- 
able of  a  nature  to  elucidate  the  obscurities  and  to  recon- 


However,  we  add  the  following  works  from  which  foreign  opinion 
on  the  subject  of  Voltaire  may  be  learned  :  John  Morley,  Voltaire, 
London,  1874; — J.  F.  Strauss's  six  lectures  on  Voltaire; — James 
Parton,  Life  of  Voltaire,  London,  1881  ; — and  W.  Kreiten,  S.J., 
Voltaire,  ein  Characterbild,  2nd  edition,  Fribourg  (Brisgau),  1885. 

2.  VOLTAIRE'S  EARLIER  YEARS. — His  family  and  his  middle-class 
extraction  [Cf.  above  the  articles  MOLIBRE,  BOILEAU,  REGNARD]  ; — his 
education  at  the  College  of  Clermont ; — his  early  masters  [Fathers 
Poree,  Tournemine,  Thoulie  (d'Olivet)]  ; — his  early  friends  [d'Argen- 
son,  Cideville,  Maisons,  d'Argental]  ; — and  his  entry  into  society,  1711. 
— The  society  gathered  round  the  Vendome  family ; — and  that  it  was 
a  school  of  gallantry,  vulgar  debauchery,  and  infidelity. — The  Holland 
incident,  and  Arouet's  first  love  affairs  [Cf.  Correspond ance  between 
1713  and  1714,  and  Mme  Dunoyer's  Lettres  liisioriques  et  galantes] . 
— His  first  satirical  writings. — First  exile  at  Tulle,  and  then  at  Sully- 
sur-Loire,  1716. — His  return  to  Paris  ;  — two  new  satires  are  ascribed 
to  him ; — and  he  is  imprisoned  in  the  Bastille  for  the  first  time  [May, 
1717 — to  April,  1718] . — The  first  performance  of  (Edipe  [November, 
1718]  and  the  first  important  success  of  Arouet ; — who  on  this  occasion 
takes  the  name  of  Voltaire. — Of  the  importance  at  this  period  of  a 
success  scored  on  the  stage ; — and  of  the  acquaintances  Voltaire  makes, 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL          299 

cile  the  contradictions  of  this  celebrated  book.  For  to  deny 
that  the  book  is  obscure  is  impossible :  the  different  inter- 
pretations that  have  been  given  are  proof  of  its  obscurity. 
Was  Montesquieu's  sole  intention  in  the  Esprit  des  Lois  to 
give  a  further  version  of  or  a  sequel  to  his  Lettres  per- 
sanes  ;  and  can  it  be  that  this  great  work,  which  occupied 
twenty  years  of  his  life  is  mainly  a  political  pamphlet,  in 
which  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  author  points  out 
what  he  considers  to  be  the  proper  remedies  for  the  evils 
he  denounces '?  Voltaire  rather  inclines  to  this  opinion, 
and  he  had  it  in  view  when  he  blamed  Montesquieu  "  for 
having  played  the  witling  in  a  book  of  universal  juris- 
prudence." The  opinion  is  also  that  of  the  last  editor  of 
the  Esprit  des  Lois.  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  did  Monte- 
squieu propose,  as  the  author  of  the  Politique  tiree  de 
I'Ecriture  sainte  had  done  before  him,  to  give  a  sketch  of 

thanks  to  his  (Edipe ; — acquaintances  that  improve  his  social  standing 
[the  Villars  and  Richelieu  families,  the  Duchesse  de  Maine]  ; — useful 
acquaintances  [the  banker  Hogguers  and  the  brothers  Paris] . — Vol- 
taire's business  instinct  is  awakened ; — his  intrigues  with  a  view  to 
embarking  on  a  diplomatic  career  through  the  agency  of  Dubois ; — 
and  his  taste  for  secret  missions. — Voltaire's  second  journey  to  Hol- 
land.— The  Epitre  a  Uranie,  1722  ; — and  why  it  is  important  to  bear 
in  mind  the  date  of  this  work. — The  first  publication  of  the  Henriade, 
1723 ; — Marianne,  1724. — Voltaire  installs  himself  in  the  good  graces 
of  the  Marquise  de  Prie. — The  Chevalier  de  Rohan  incident  [December, 
1725]  ; — second  imprisonment  in  the  Bastille  [April,  1726]  ; — and  his 
exile  in  England  [May  2,  1726] . 

Voltaire's  first  impressions  in  England  [Cf .  Beuchot,  vol.  xxxvii.]  ; — 
and,  in  this  connection,  a  few  words  as  to  the  French  colony  in 
London  in  1726  [Cf .  Prevost,  Histoire  de  M.  de  Montcal,  and  J.  Churton 
Collins,  Bolingbroke  .  .  .  and  Voltaire  in  England,  London,  1886] . 
— Voltaire  renews  his  acquaintance  with  Bolingbroke,  and  makes  the 
acquaintance  of  Pope,  of  "  the  merchant  "  Falkener,  etc. — He  learns 
English  and  studies  Newton,  Locke,  and  Bacon ; — he  sees  Congreve's 
comedies  performed, — and  Shakespeare's  dramas. — He  writes  his 
Essai  sur  la  Poesie  epique. — The  English  freethinkers  [Cf.  Tabaraud, 


300    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

what  he  considered  the  best  form  of  government,  and  did 
he  discover  it,  according  to  his  own  expression,  "  in  the 
woods,"  as  his  predecessor,  Bossuet,  had  lighted  on  it  in 
the  Bible  ?  This  latter  view  is  held  by  certain  of  his  com- 
mentators, by  d'Alembert  for  instance  ;  and  since  d'Alem- 
bert  by  Tracy;  and  since  Tracy  by  several  others.  It  has 
also  been  suggested  that  his  intention  may  have  been  to 
systematise  historical  data  according  to  the  method  in  use 
in  natural  science,  or  in  other  words  to  apply  the  "  positive 
method,"  at  a  period  at  which  it  had  not  yet  been  invented, 
to  a  subject  which  even  at  the  present  day  admits  of  its 
utilisation  to  a  less  degree  than  any  other.  This  was  the 
view  adopted  by  Auguste  Comte,  and  Taine  also  adhered 
to  it  in  his  Ancien  regime.  The  truth  is,  however,  that 
none  of  these  interpretations  mutually  exclude  one 
another.  If  the  Esprit  des  Lois  is  wanting  in  clearness, 

Histoire  du  Philosophisme  anglais,  Paris,  1806  ;  and  Leslie  Stephen, 
English  Thought  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  London,  2nd  edition, 
1881]  ; — and  that,  while  taking  into  account  their  influence  on  Voltaire, 
it  must  be  remembered  how  much  they  owe  to  Bayle. — Of  the  advan- 
tage Voltaire  derived  from  his  stay  in  England  [Cf.  John  Morley, 
Voltaire]  ; — and  that  it  has  perhaps  been  a  little  exaggerated. 

The  Histoire  de  Charles  XII.,  1731,  and  the  Lettres  pliilosophiques. 
— How  did  the  idea  of  writing  the  history  of  Charles  XII.  occur  to 
Voltaire  ? — and  that  it  probably  dates  from  the  time  of  his  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Baron  de  Gortz. — Character  of  the  work ; — and  that  while 
conceiving  it  as  a  tragedy, — Voltaire  spared  no  pains  to  make  it  a 
serious,  historical  work  [Cf.  Bengesco,  Bibliographic,  vol.  i.,  p.  373 
and  fol.].  Of  the  use  that  is  made  in  Charles  XII.  of  information 
obtained  orally ; — and  that  the  value  of  the  book  is  due  in  part  to  this 
information. — Charles  XII.  regarded  as  an  early  attempt  to  write 
history  in  a  philosophic  spirit  [Cf.  the  Essai  sur  les  guerres  civiles  and 
the  notes  to  the  Henriade] , — and,  in  this  connection,  of  Voltaire's 
curious  mixture  of  admiration  for  his  hero  and  of  indignation  against 
him. — Zaire,  1732. — The  publication  of  the  Lettres  philosophiques, 
1734. — Significance  of  the  book,  and  how  much  more  considerable  it 
is  than  that  of  the  Lettres  persanes^ — and  particularly  so  if  it  be 


THE   DEFORMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL         301 

if  it  makes  greater  claims  upon  the  perspicacity  of  the 
reader  than  the  Essai  sur  les  mceurs,  if  we  can  only  regard 
it  as  the  rough  draught  of  a  great  book,  the  reason  is  that 
it  is  a  confused  medley  of  three  or  four  things,  of  the 
connection  between  which  Montesquieu  himself  had  no 
exact  intuition.  "If  it  be  desired  to  inquire  into  the 
design  of  the  author,  he  wrote, — in  a  Preface  which  is  a 
monument  of  literary  vanity, — it  can  properly  be  discovered 
only  in  the  plan  of  the  work  "  ;  a  statement  which  is  an 
indirect  way  of  confessing  or  rather  of  dissembling  the 
truth  that  in  reality  and  at  bottom  he  had  no  design  or 
plan.  In  short,  let  us  have  the  courage  to  admit  that 
the  Esprit  des  Lois  is  a  failure,  and  that  it  will  always  be 
impossible  to  establish  the  unity  of  its  plan  for  the 
excellent  reason  that  Montesquieu  himself  in  writing  it 
was  never  very  sure  of  his  own  purpose. 

taken  together  with  the  Bemarques  sur  les  Pensees  de  Pascal, — 
which  belong  to  the  same  date. — The  subjects  dealt  with  in  the 
Lettres. — Religion  and  tolerance  [Lettres,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7]. — Govern- 
ment, politics  and  commerce  [8,  9,  10]. — Science  and  philosophy  [11, 
12,  13,  14,  15,  16,  17]. — English  literature  and  the  social  standing  of 
men  of  letters  [18,  19,  20,  21,  22,  23,  24].— Of  certain  ideas  Voltaire 
and  Montesquieu  possess  in  common : — on  the  supreme  importance 
of  the  social  institution ; — on  the  dangers  of  religion, 

— Tantum  religio  potuit  suadere  malorum  I 

on  the  lay  constitution  of  the  society  of  the  future ; — and  on  the 
force  of  opinion. — Condemnation  of  the  Lettres  philosophiques  [June, 
1734]. 

Voltaire's  sojourn  at  Cirey. — His  liaison  with  Mine  du  Chatelet ; — 
he  takes  up  his  residence  at  Cirey  [Cf.  Eugene  Asse's  editions  of  the 
Lettres  de  Mine  de  Graffigny,  Paris,  1879  ;  and  of  the  Lettres  de  Mme 
du,  CMtelet,  Paris,  1882]. — Varied  nature  of  Voltaire's  writings: — 
his  Alzire,  1736 ; — Le  Mondain,  1736  ; — and  of  the  clearness  with 
which  the  idea  of  progress  is  expressed  in  this  work. — The  comedy 
L 'enfant  prodigue,  1736 ; — Voltaire  enters  into  correspondence  with 
the  Prince  Royal  of  Prussia,  afterwards  Frederick  II. ; — the  Essai  sur 


30'2  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

It  remains  to  explain  why  the  book  had  such  a  brilliant, 
such  a  notable  success  in  its  time  throughout  Europe  as 
well  as  in  France,  and  to  determine  what  it  is  that  we 
ourselves  still  like  or  admire  in  it.  Montesquieu's  con- 
temporaries were  charmed  by  the  wit  or  sedate  humour 
of  the  work,  by  its  epigrammatic  tone  and  phraseology,  by 
the  chapter  on  Despotism  or  the  chapter  on  Slavery ;  by 
its  allusions,  quotations  and  singularities ;  by  the  fashion, 
at  once  discreet  and  licentious,  in  which  it  treats  of  the 
curious  or  indecent  customs  of  Benin,  of  Calicut  and  of 
Borneo ;  by  its  anecdotes  ;  by  the  novelty  of  the  infor- 
mation it  contained;  by  its  praise  of  "honour"  and 
"virtue."  Montesquieu  was  the  first  to  enable  ladies  to 
imagine,  as  they  proceeded  with  their  toilette,  that  they 
understood  legal  language,  and  it  was  due  to  him  that 
"  universal  jurisprudence  "  became  a  topic  of  conversation 

la  nature  du  feu,  1737  [Cf.  Ernile  Saigey,  La  Physique  de  Voltaire, 
Paris,  1873]  ; — the  Discours  sur  Vlwmme,  1738 ; — the  Elements  de  la 
philosophic  de  Neivton,  1738  ; — the  quarrel  with  Desfontaines,  1738- 
1740  [Cf.  Maynard,  Voltaire,  sa  vie  et  ses  oeuvres,  Paris,  1867,  vol.  i.  ; 
and  Nisard,  Les  ennemis  de  Voltaire,  Paris,  1853] ; — Zulime,  1740 ; 
— Doutes  sur  lamesure  des  forces  motrices,  1741 ; — Mahomet,  1742; — 
Merope,  1743. 

Voltaire's  plays  [Cf.  Geoffrey,  Cours  de  litterature  dramatique, 
vol.  iii. ;  Emile  Deschanel,  Le  theatre  de  Voltaire,  Paris,  1886 ;  and 
H.  Lion,  Les  Tragedies  de  Voltaire,  Paris,  1896]. — Voltaire's  passion 
for  the  theatre ; — and  the  reality,  flexibility,  and  variety  of  his  dramatic 
aptitudes. — Successive  influence  of  Racine,  the  elder  Crebillon,  and 
Shakespeare  on  Voltaire's  conception  of  the  drama. — Zaire,  1732 ; 
— and  whether  Voltaire  had  Bajazet  or  Shakespeare's  Othello  most 
in  mind  in  writing  it  ? — The  Mort  de  Cesar,  1735  ; — and  the  idea 
of  tragedy  from  which  love  should  be  absent. — Of  certain  innova- 
tions introduced  to  the  French  stage  by  Voltaire. — Subjects  of  pure 
invention. — Extension  of  the  localities  in  which  the  scene  is  laid 
and  the  development  of  local  colour : — Zaire  and  the  Mussulman 
world. — Alzire  and  America; — the  Orplielin  de  la  Chine  and  the 
Asiatic  world. — National  reminiscences; — and,  in  this  connection, 


THE    DEFOKMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL          303 

in  the  salons  and  at  court — where  he  was  not  without 
friends.  As  Fontenelle  had  done  before  him,  he  annexed 
to  the  domain  of  literature  a  new  and  spacious  province. 
For  this  service  we  are  still  grateful  to  him,  if  it  be  the 
sign  of  a  great  writer  to  utilise  for  literary  purposes  a 
subject  hitherto  foreign  to  literature,  to  bring  it  at  once 
within  general  reach,  and  by  the  sole  authority  of  his  work 
and  name  to  ensure  its  remaining  common  property  for 
the  future.  But  in  the  eyes  of  the  men  of  his  time,  pro- 
foundly convinced  as  they  were  of  the  "  charm  of  living," 
his  chief  claim  upon  their  gratitude  was  the  ardent,  the 
almost  religious  respect  he  professed  for  the  "  social 
institution,"  whose  intangibility  he  seemed  to  have  based 
on  deep-lying  grounds  that  raised  it  even  above  the  laws. 
And  finally  his  contemporaries  were  thankful  to  him  for 
the  perspective  of  increasing  perfection  he  opened  up 

• 
of  the  influence  of  the  Henriade  on  the  tragedy  of  the  eighteenth 

century. — The  abuse  in  Voltaire's  tragedies  of  such  romantic 
expedients  as  misunderstandings  and  recognitions  [Cf.  in  this 
respect  Crebillon's  plays]. — Voltaire's  pathos; — and  does  it  merit 
the  praise  that  has  been  bestowed  on  it  [Cf.  Vinet,  Litterature 
francaise  aw  XVIP  siecle}  ? — How  Voltaire  compromised  his  qualifi- 
cations as  a  dramatist ; — by  converting  tragedy  into  a  vehicle  for  the 
propagation  of  philosophic  theories ; — by  choosing  his  subjects  in 
accordance  with  the  exigences  of  the  taste  of  his  time  rather  than  in 
accordance  with  any  conception  of  art ; — and  by  the  fact  that  he  grew 
more  and  more  unable  to  dissociate  himself  from  his  personages. — 
That  for  all  these  reasons  it  is  unnecessary  to  study  those  of  Voltaire's 
plays  that  are  posterior  to  Semiramis,  1748 ; — since  from  this  date 
onwards, — with  the  possible  exception  of  Tancrede, — he  will  produce 
nothing  in  the  way  of  tragedy, — and  still  less  in  the  way  of  comedy, — 
that  is  not  far  inferior  to  his  earlier  efforts. — A  few  words  as  to  the 
mediocrity  of  Voltaire's  comedies. 

Voltaire  at  Court. — His  relations  with  Mme  de  Chateauroux  ; — and 
more  particularly  with  Mme  de  Pompadour. — He  flatters  himself 
that  the  king  will  be  prevailed  on  by  his  new  mistress  to  espouse  the 
cause  of  the  philosophers ; — and  he  overwhelms  the  sovereign  with 


304    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OP  FEENCH  LITEEATUEE 

before  them.  At  the  present  day  we  may  not  be  able  to 
admit  that  this  fervent  faith  in  the  destinies  of  humanity 
lends  the  Esprit  des  Lois  the  unity  in  which  it  is  deficient, 
but  we  can  at  least  allow  that  it  gives  the  book  its 
elevation. 

"  Every  man — he  had  written  in  his  Lettres  persanes 
— is  capable  of  contributing  to  the  good  of  a  fellow 
man,  but  to  assure  the  welfare  of  an  entire  society  is  to 
resemble  the  Gods  !  "  Montesquieu,  like  the  Stoics  of 
whom  he  was  so  great  an  admirer,  desired  to  resemble 
the  Gods,  and  as  a  means  to  this  end  he  subordinated,  as 
did  the  Stoics,  every  consideration  to  the  good  of  society. 
In  the  view  of  the  author  of  the  Esprit  des  Lois  we 
are  men  merely  so  far  as  we  are  fitted  for  society.  In 
his  eyes  the  social  utility  of  a  law  is  the  criterion,  not 
only  of  its  character  and  merit,  but  also  of  its  moral 

• 

flatteries ; — which  bring  him  the  title  of  historiographer  of  France 
[1745]. — The  Poetne  de  Fontenoy,  1745  ;  and  the  Temple  de  la  Oloire, 
1745. — Voltaire  elected  to  and  received  at  the  French  Academy  [May, 
1746]. — He  is  appointed  gentleman  in  waiting  to  the  king  [December, 
1746]. — Voltaire's  imprudences. — He  wearies  the  king  by  his  excessive 
flatteries ; — Mme  de  Pompadour  by  his  familiarity ; — and  the  courtiers 
by  his  self-sufficiency. 

He  retires  to  the  residence  of  the  Duchesse  de  Maine  at  Sceaux, 
1747. — His  early  tales :  Le  Monde  comme  il  va,  Cosi  Sancta,  Zadig, 
Micromegas,  1747 ; — the  quarrels  with  the  Duchesse  de  Maine. — 
He  leaves  Sceaux  for  Cirey ; — his  stay  at  the  Court  of  Lorraine. — 
Mme  du  Chatelet's  treachery; — and,  in  this  connection,  a  few  words 
on  the  subject  of  the  Court  of  Lorraine,  King  Stanislas,  and  the 
Marquis  de  St.  Lambert ; — death  of  Mme  du  Chatelet,  1749  ;— and 
return  of  Voltaire  to  Paris. — Difficulties  of  his  situation  ; — owing  to 
his  being  regarded  with  equal  suspicion  by  the  court  and  the  new 
generation  of  "men  of  letters. "—His  dramatic  rivalry  with  the  elder 
Crebillon. — His  Oreste,  1750,  and  his  Rome  sauvee,  1752. — Frederick 
proposes  to  him  that  he  shall  take  up  his  residence  in  Berlin. — 
Voltaire's  hesitations  [Cf.  Marmontel  in  his  Memoirs]. — Frederick's 
advances  to  Baculard  d'Arnaud  cause  him  to  make  up  his  mind. — His 


THE   DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL          305 

excellence  or  hatefulness  and  even  of  its  intrinsic  justice. 
Indeed  he  has  allowed  the  observation  to  fall  from  his 
pen,  that  from  the  reprehensible  principle  of  the  denial  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  "  the  Stoics  deduced  con- 
sequences which,  although  not  accurate,  were  admirable 
from  a  social  point  of  view"  [Cf.  Esprit  des  Lois,  xxiv., 
chap.  19] .  In  another  passage  he  writes  [Cf .  Esprit  des 
Lois,  xxiv.,  chap.  1] :  "  Just  as  in  the  dark  it  is  possible 
to  distinguish  different  degrees  of  obscurity  ...  so  we 
may  compare  false  religions  with  a  view  to  deciding  which 
of  them  are  most  in  conformity  with  the  good  of  society." 
And  if  we  probe  his  opinions  to  the  bottom,  what  do  we 
find  is  his  grievance — vented,  be  it  said,  with  infinite  pre- 
caution— against  the  "true  religion"?  It  is  that  certain 
of  its  laws  may  clash  with  the  good  of  society.  "What 
hold  has  the  law  on  a  man  who  firmly  believes  that  the 

departure  for  Berlin  [June  18,  1750]  ; — and  his  arrival  at  Potsdam 
[July  10,  1750]. — Sincerity  of  his  enthusiasm  for  Frederick; — and,  in 
this  connection,  of  the  benefits  Voltaire  derived  from  his  sojourn  in 
Prussia. — When  he  left  Paris  he  was  in  evil  odour, — and  was  only 
regarded  there  as  one  man  of  letters  among  many ; — his  stay  in 
Berlin, — and  his  intimacy  with  Frederick, — in  spite  of  the  Frankfort 
incident, — will  make  of  him  in  less  than  three  years, — a  man  whose 
situation  is  henceforth  unique, — the  trusted  literary  adviser  of  the 
Powers ; — and  already  almost  the  king  of  European  literature. 

VI.— Jean-Baptiste  Gresset  [Amiens,  1709;  f  1777,  Amiens]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — D'Alembert,  Beponse  au  discours  de  reception 
de  Vabbe  Millot,  1777 ; — Father  Daire,  Vie  de  Gresset,  Paris,  1779 ; — 
Maximilien  Eobespierre,  Eloge  de  Gresset,  Paris,  1785 ; — Notice  pre- 
ceding Renouard's  edition,  Paris,  1811 ; — Campenon,  Essai  sur  la  vie 
et  les  ouvrages  de  Gresset,  Paris,  1823 ; — E.  Wogue,  Gresset,  Paris, 
1894. 

2.  THE  POET  ; — and  that  his  sole  merit  is  that  he  is  representative 
of  a  very  special  phase  in  the  art  of  writing  in  verse ; — the  publication 

.of  Ver-Vert  in  1734  having  been  almost  a  literary  event; — and  the 
Mechant  (1747)  being  certainly  the  best  comedy  in  verse  we  have  of 

21 


306  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTOET  OF  FRENCH  LITERATURE 

severest  penalty  the  magistrates  are  able  to  inflict  on  him 
will  end  in  a  moment  in  ushering  him  into  a  state  of 
bliss?"  [Cf.  Esprit  de  Lois,  xxiv.,  chap.  14] .  We  touch 
here  on  the  central  idea  of  his  book,  and  this  is  the  stand- 
point we  must  take  up  if  we  desire  "  to  discover  the 
purport "  of  his  work.  However  confused  the  com- 
position of  the  book  may  seem,  and  strange  as  may  be 
the  medley  of  laws  that  form  its  subject  matter,  we 
have  only  to  consider  these  various  laws  from  the  point 
of  view  of  their  bearing  on  the  "good  of  society,"  and 
at  once  the  reasons  of  the  author's  mode  of  proceeding 
become  apparent  and  a  fresh  light  is  thrown  on  his 
book.  In  this  way  Montesquieu  has  his  revenge.  What 
was  obscure  in  his  work  grows  less  obscure,  what  was 
disconnected  acquires  cohesion,  and  what  seemed  con- 
tradictory ceases  to  be  so.  The  Esprit  des  Lois  remains 

the  eighteenth  century; — without  excepting  even  Alexis  Piron's 
Metromanie. — The  work,  moreover,  is  not  without  a  certain  satirical 
force; — and  some  "documentary"  value; — admitting  the  principal 
personage  in  the  Mediant  to  be  a  transitional  type  between  the 
dandies  of  Marivaux  [Cf .  L'Epreuve]  and  the  heroes  of  the  Liaisons 
dangereuses. — Gresset's  recantation,  1759 ; — and  Voltaire's  lines  : 

Gresset  is  mistaken,  he  is  not  so  guilty  .  .  . 

Have  we  lost  much  by  the  auto-da-fe  Gresset  made  of  his  manu- 
scripts?— and  that  his  unpublished  pieces,  the  Ouvroir  or  the 
Gazetin,  doubtless  contained  nothing  that  is  not  to  be  found  in  his 
Ver-  Vert. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Gresset's  works  comprise  : 

(1)  His  poems,  including  Ver-Vert,  the  Careme  impromptu,  the 
Lutrin  vivant,  the  Chartreuse,  and  some  Epistles  and  Odes; — also 
a  somewhat  feeble  translation  in  verse  of  Virgil's  Eclogues. 

(2)  His  plays,  comprising  Edouard  III.,  a  tragedy ;    Sidney,   a 
drama  in  verse  ;  and  the  Mechant,  a  comedy. 

(3)  Some  prose  writings,  of  which  the  most  noteworthy  is  perhaps 
his  Discours  de  reception,  1748.     A  posthumous  poem  of  Gresset's  in 
irregula*  verse,  Le  Parrain  magnifique,  was  published  in  1810. 


THE    DEFORMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL          307 

for  all  this  an  imperfect  book,  but  it  is  felt  to  be  less 
unworthy  of  its  lofty  fortune ;  it  becomes  comprehensible 
that  its  influence  should  have  surpassed  its  merit,  a  cir- 
cumstance explained  by  the  consideration  that  the  genius 
of  Montesquieu  was  doubtless  superior  to  his  work. 

At  the  same  time  this  central  idea  of  the  Esprit  des 
Lois  was  not  the  exclusive  property  of  Montesquieu ;  on 
the  contrary  it  is  met  with  in  the  writings  of  almost  all 
his  contemporaries.  A  "social"  literature  was  bound  to 
lead  up  to  it,  and  thus  to  gain  at  first  in  comprehen- 
siveness what  it  was  losing  in  depth,  and  to  perish  or 
at  least  be  distorted  and  disorganised  by  the  carrying 
to  extremes  of  its  principle?  At  the  very  moment 
when  Montesquieu  was  completing  the  Esprit  des  Lois, 
Vauvenargues  was  issuing  his  Introduction  a  la  con- 
naissance  de  I' esprit  humain  (1746),  where  the  following 

The  best  edition  of  his  works  is  Renouard's  edition,  2  volumes, 
Paris,  1811. 

VII. — Luc  de  Clapiers,  Marquis  de  Vauvenargues  [Aix  in 
Provence,  1715;  f  1747,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Suard's  notice ;  and  Saint-Maurice's  Eloge  de 
Vauvenargues  to  be  found  at  the  beginning  of  vols.  i.  and  iii.  of  the 
edition  of  1821 ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  iii.,  1850 ; — 
A.  Vinet,  Litterature  francaise  au  XVIIP  siecle ; — Prevost-Paradol, 
Moralistes  francais ; — Gilbert,    Eloge   de    Vauvenargues,   preceding 
his  edition,  Paris,  1857 ; — Maurice  Paleologue,  Vauvenargues  in  the 
"  Grands  Ecrivains  fran9ais  "  series,  Paris,  1890. 

2.  THE  MORALIST. — His  melancholy  destiny. — He  is  a  transitional 
type. — The  essential  and  original  characteristic  of  Vauvenargues  con- 
sists in  his  having  combined  some  of  the  traits  of  Pascal's  pessimism 
with  J.  J.  Rousseau's  optimism ; — while  his  work,  though  uncompleted, 
is  the  confession  of  a  soul. 

Vauvenargues'  military  career  and  campaigns ; — his  love  of  glory ; 
his  generosity  of  heart ; — and  his  love  of  humanity. — Comparison  in 
this  respect  between  Vauvenargues  and  La  Rochefoucauld. — Did 
Vauvenargues  possess  a  doctrine? — and  that  in  any  case  his  pre- 


308    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOBY   OF   FBENCH   LITEBATUBE 

passage  is  to  be  read :  "  For  anything  to  be  regarded  as 
good  by  the  whole  of  society,  it  is  necessary  that  it 
should  tend  to  the  advantage  of  the  whole  of  society,  and 
for  it  to  be  regarded  as  an  evil,  it  must  tend  to  the 
destruction  of  society :  herein  lies  the  main  characteristic 
of  what  is  morally  good  or  morally  evil."  He  was  briefly 
discussing,  not  the  ''spirit,"  but  the  ''origin "  of  laws ;  and 
he  added  :  "  We  are  born  and  we  grow  up  in  the  shade  of 
these  solemn  conventions ;  we  owe  them  the  security  of 
our  life  and  the  tranquillity  that  attends  it.  The  laws  are 
also  our  only  title  to  our  possessions :  from  the  very  dawn 
of  our  life  we  profit  by  their  beneficent  consequences,  and 
we  are  attached  to  them  by  bonds  that  grow  ever  stronger 
and  stronger.  Whoever  claims  to  throw  off  this  authority 
to  which  he  owes  everything,  cannot  esteem  it  unjust 
that  it  should  deprive  him  of  everything — even  of  his  life. 

mature  death  prevented  him  from  reconciling  its  contradictions, — 
and  from  developing  all  its  consequences. — His  veneration  for  social 
institutions  [Introduction  a  la  connaissance,  &c.,  chap.  43]. — His 
indulgent  attitude  towards  the  passions  and  the  apology  he  makes  for 
them  [Cf.  Introd.  bk.  ii.,  chap.  42,  and  Reflexions  et  Maximes,  Ed. 
Gilbert,  122,  123,  124,  149,  151,  153,  154].— His  belief  in  the  goodness 
of  nature ; — and  his  theory  as  to  the  superiority  of  sentiment  over 
reason  [Cf .  Reflexions  et  Maximes,  passim,  and  Reflexions  sur  divers 
sujets,  54]. — Analogy  between  these  ideas  and  those  to  which 
Rousseau  will  soon  give  expression; — and  to  what  is  this  analogy 
to  be  attributed  ? — to  the  resemblance  between  the  two  periods  ? 
—  or  to  the  fact  that  Vauvenargues,  like  Rousseau,  was  self 
taught  ? 

How  superior  his  moral  personality  is  to  that  of  Rousseau ; — though 
his  talent  is  inferior. — Vauvenargues'  eloquence. — Melancholy  tone 
of  some  of  his  thoughts. — Delicacy  of  his  literary  taste. 

3.  THE  WOEKS. — Vauvenargues'  works  consist  of  (1)  his  Introduc- 
tion a  la  connaissance  de  Vesprit  humain,  which  was  first  published 
in  1746,  and  to  which  were  joined  the  Reflexions  sur  divers  sujets ; 
the  Conseils  a  un  jeune  homme,  the  Reflexions  critiques  sur  quelques 
poetes  and  some  Caracteres  in  the  manner  of  La  Bruyere; — (2)  his 


THE   DEFOBMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL         309 

Is  it  reasonable  that  an  individual  should  dare  to  sacrifice 
his  fellows  solely  in  his  own  interest,  and  that  society 
should  not  be  able  to  restore  the  public  peace  at  the  cost 
of  his  ruin !  "  To  discuss  these  daring  principles  is 
beyond  our  province  here,  but  it  is  not  impossible  that 
Montesquieu  had  some  knowledge  of  them,  and  in  any 
case  their  resemblance  to  those  of  the  Esprit  des  Lois  is 
plain.  The  truth  doubtless  is  that  they  pervaded  the 
atmosphere  of  the  time  in  a  disconnected  and  inchoate 
state,  and  that  in  succession  the  author  of  the  Intro- 
duction a  la  connaissance  de  I 'esprit  humain,  the  author 
of  the  Esprit  des  Lois  and  the  author  of  the  Essai  sur  les 
mceurs  did  no  more  than  give  them  literary  expression, 
while  adapting  them  respectively  the  first  to  his  subject, 
the  second  to  his  vague  "  plan,"  and  the  third  to  the 
bent  of  his  intellect. 


Dialogues ; — (3)  his  correspondence  with  Voltaire,  Fauries  de  Saint- 
Vincent  and  the  Marquis  de  Mirabeau. 

Vauvenargues  was  prevented  by  his  early  death  from  completing 
any  of  his  writings  with  the  exception  of  his  Introduction.  The 
remainder  of  his  works  have  been  enriched  by  the  successive  addition 
of  unpublished  fragments,  which  have  nearly  doubled  their  volume. 

For  example,  Suard  published  for  the  first  time  hi  1806  the  Traite 
sur  le  libre  arbitre ; — eighteen  of  his  dialogues  did  not  see  the  light 
till  1821 ; — while  his  correspondence  with  Mirabeau  is  only  to  be 
found  in  the  last  edition  of  his  works  that  has  been  published,  that 
edited  by  Gilbert,  in  2  volumes  8vo,  Paris,  1857,  Furne. 

VIII.— diaries  Pinot  Duclos  [Dinan,  1704;  f  1772,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Duclos'  Memoirs  (unfinished) ; — Mme  d'Epinay, 
Memoir •es ; — Noual  de  la    Houssaye    (Duclos'   nephew),    Eloge    de 
Duclos,  1806 ; — Villenave,  Notice  preceding  his  edition  of  the  works, 
1821 ; — Sainte-Beuve,    Causeries  du   lundi,  vol.   ix.,   1853  ; — Lucien 
Perey  and  G.  Maugras,  La  Jeunesse  de  Mme  d'Epinay,  Paris,  1882 ; 
— L.    Brunei,  Les  philosopJies  et  V Academic  francaise  au  XVIIP 
siecle,  Paris,  1884. 

2.  THE  WRITER. — His  licentious  youth, — and  his  habit  of  adopting 


310    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE 

Another  idea  takes  definite  shape  at  about  the  same 
period  :  the  idea  of  progress  which,  first  evolved,  as  we 
saw,  some  fifty  years  before  in  the  course  of  the  quarrel 
between  the  ancients  and  moderns,  has  since  been  pro- 
fiting, as  it  were,  by  the  losses  sustained  by  the  spirit  of 
tradition  and  now  penetrates  into  the  very  sanctuary  of 
routine,  into  the  Sorbonne  itself.  Are  we  to  believe  that 
because  Voltaire  and  Montesquieu  did  not  expressly  give 
this  idea  the  name  by  which  we  know  it,  they  on  that 
account  had  no  "  presentiment  of  the  important  part  it 
was  about  to  play  on  the  world's  stage '.'  ?  This  view 
can  only  be  taken  by  those  who  have  read  these  writers 
most  inattentively,  for  they  are  full  of  the  idea  of 
progress.  Shall  we  suppose  that  Montesquieu  was  not 
aware  of  what  he  was  saying  when  he  wrote  that 
"human  laws — as  compared  with  the  laws  of  religion 

cynical  airs. — His  eccentric  humour ; — and  the  mediocrity  of  his 
talent. — His  novels  :  Histoire  de  la  baronne  de  Luz,  1741 ; — and  the 
Confessions  du  oomte  de  .  .  .  1742 ; — and  that  they  are  of  a  kindred 
stamp  to  those  of  the  younger  Crebillon ; — that  is  as  indecent,  as 
tedious,  and  doubtless  as  false. — His  Histoire  de  Louis  XI.,  1745,  is 
almost  unreadable  at  the  present  day. — On  the  other  hand  his 
Considerations  sur  les  mozurs  de  ce  siecle,  1750, — a  fairly  well  written 
work,  —  contains  somewhat  interesting  observations  on  various 
subjects ; — and  helps  to  an  understanding  of  the  manners  of  his  time 
[See  in  particular  the  second  chapter  dealing  with  "  education  "  and 
"prejudices"; — the  fifth  with  "reputation,"  "celebrity,"  "renown," 
and  "  consideration " ; — the  seventh  with  "  people  who  are  the 
fashion"; — and  the  eleventh  with  "men  of  letters  "]. —The  success 
of  this  book,  too,  was  considerable  ; — no  literary  man  has  been  more 
the  fashion  than  was  Duclos  in  his  time ; — while  none  have  better 
looked  after  their  interests. — He  was  also  successful  in  preserving  his 
independence  ; — and  his  dignity ; — not  only  with  respect  to  persons 
of  position  and  social  standing ; — but  more  especially  with  respect 
to  his  fellow  men  of  letters ; — and  particularly  with  respect  to  the 
Encyclopedists. — For  these  reasons  his  personality  has  a  significance 
that  is  not  possessed  by  his  works  ; — and  on  this  account  he  deserves 
to  be  remembered. 


THE   DEFOEMATION   OF    THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL          311 

— owe  their  advantage  to  their  novelty"  [Cf.  Esprit 
des  Lois,  xxvi.,  ch.  2] ,  or  that  Voltaire  was  blind  to 
what  he  was  about,  when  he  got  himself  into  trouble 
in  connection  with  his  Mondain?  Moreover  we  have 
no  hesitation  in  affirming  that  the  young  Bachelor  of 
Letters,  who  expressed  himself  in  the  following  terms 
in  a  Discourse  dated  1750,  had  read  Voltaire  and  Mon- 
tesquieu, even  if  he  did  not  owe  them  his  inspiration : 
"  Societies  are  seen  to  come  into  existence  and  the  founda- 
tion is  witnessed  of  nations,  which  in  turn  dominate  other 
nations  or  are  subject  to  them.  .  .  .  Interest,  ambition, 
and  vainglory  perpetually  change  the  aspect  of  the  world 
and  deluge  the  earth  with  blood,  but  amid  their  ravages, 
human  enlightenment  advances,  manners  grow  milder, 
the  nations  are  brought  closer  together,  commerce  and 
politics  at  last  unite  the  different  parts  of  the  globe,  and 

3.  THE  WORKS. — They  include  in  addition  to  his  novels,  to  his 
Louis   XI.,   and    to    his    Considerations : 

(1)  A  certain  number   of  memoirs   contributed  to  the  Recueil  de 
V Academic  des  Inscriptions,  the  two  most  important  among  them 
relating  to  the  origin  of  and  the  changes  in  the  French  and  Celtic 
languages  ; — an  annotated  edition  of  the  Port-Royal  Grammar,  1754. 
A  new   system  of   orthography  is  followed  in  the   printing  of  this 
work ; — and  the  Preface  to  the  4th  edition  of  the  dictionary  of  the 
Academy,  1762. 

(2)  Of  his  Memoires  secrets  sur  les  regnes  de  Louis  XIV.  et  de 
Louis  XV.     This  work  was  first  published  in  1791,  and  its  interest  has 
greatly  diminished  since  the  appearance  of  the  Memoirs  of   Saint- 
Simon. 

(3)  Of  his  Considerations  sur  Vltalie,  [1766-1767]  also  published 
for  the  first  time  in  1791. 

(4)  Of  his   Essai  sur   les   corvees,   1759,  and   of    his   Reflexions 
sur  les  corvees,  1762,  two  works  which  are  certainly  by  the   same 
author,  though  it  has  not  been  absolutely  proved  that  that  author  is 
Duclos. 

The  most   complete   edition  of  Duclos1  works  is   that   edited   by 
Villenave>  Paris,  1821. 


312    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

the  total  mass  of  the  human  race,  traversing  alternate 
periods  of  calm  and  agitation,  of  prosperity  and  of 
suffering,  moves  on,  unceasingly  though  slowly,  towards 
a  state  of  greater  perfection"  [Cf.  Turgot's  Works,  Daire's 
edition,  vol.  ii.].  Without  wishing  in  any  way  to  rob 
Turgot  of  his  merit,  or  of  the  honour  that  is  paid  him, 
one  is  justified  in  pointing  out  that  there  is  not  a  word  in 
this  quotation  or  a  line  in  the  whole  of  the  Discourse, 
which  does  not  recall  some  passage  or  other  of  the  Esprit 
des  Lois  or  the  Essai  sur  les  mceurs.  That  Turgot  gives 
us  the  very  spirit  of  these  works  is  still  clearer,  if  Voltaire 
conceived  his  Essai  sur  les  mceurs  solely  with  a  view  to 
demonstrating  the  superiority  of  his  century  over  all 
others  ;  and  if  Montesquieu,  for  his  part,  sought  to 
ground  his  conviction  that  "  history  offers  nothing  com- 
parable with  the  might  of  the  Europe  of  his  time  "  on 

EIGHTH  PERIOD 
The  Encyclopedia  and  the  Encyclopedists 

1750-1765 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — The  Memoirs  and  Letters  of  the  time,  and  in 
particular  :  Voltaire's  correspondence ; — the  Memoirs  of  d'Argenson ; 
of  Barbier ;  of  Morellet ;  of  Marmontel ; — Frederick  the  Great's 
correspondence  [Preuss'  edition]  ; — Eavaisson,  Archives  de  la  Bastille, 
vol.  xii.,  covering  the  years  1709-1772 ; —  Barruel,  Histoire  du 
Jacobinisme,  vol.  i.,  London,  1797  ; — Picot,  Memoir es  pour  servir  a 
rhistoire  ecclesiastique  pendant  le  XVIIIe  siecle,  Paris,  1806  and  the 
last  edition,  1853-1857  ; — Freron's  Annee  litteraire  ; — Grimm's  Cor- 
respondance  litteraire  ; — P.  Rousseau's  [of  Toulouse]  collection  of 
the  Journal  encyclopedique. 

The  complete  works  of  d'Alembert,  Paris,  1821  ; — of  Diderot,  the 
Assezat  and  Maurice  Tourneux  edition,  Paris,  1875-1877  ; — -of  Voltaire, 
Beuchot's  edition,  and  more  especially  the  Melanges  [vols.  37-50]  ; 
— of  Helvetius,  Didot's  edition,  Paris,  1795 ; — and  of  Condorcet, 
O'Connor's  edition,  Paris,  1847-1849. 


THE   DEFORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL         313 

the  superiority  of  the  laws  of  his  period  ?  Is  it  necessary 
to  make  the  further  remark  that  Turgot's  Discourse, 
written  and  delivered  in  Latin  by  an  obscure  individual, 
attracted  but  the  slightest  attention  ?  In  consequence, 
are  we  not  in  some  measure  entitled  to  conclude  that 
while  he  was  perhaps  the  first  to  speak  of  the  idea  of 
progress  in  express  terms,  it  was  not  until  after  the 
conception  had  been  spread  abroad  by  his  masters  ? 

In  reality  it  would  seem  difficult  to  suppose  that  the 
discoveries  in  the  domain  of  Science  alone — to  say 
nothing  of  the  improvements  in  the  mechanical  arts  or  in 
the  conditions  of  daily  life — should  not  have  suggested 
the  idea  of  progress  to  the  men  of  whom  Turgot  was  the 
disciple.  With  scarcely  an  exception  they  were  men  of 
science  themselves.  Montesquieu  had  begun  his  career 
by  composing  treatises  on  the  functions  of  the  renal 

With  regard  to  Diderot  in  particular  consult :  his  correspondence 
with  Mile.  Volland  ;  his  Paradoxe  sur  le  comedien  ;  and  his  Neveu  de 
Rameau ; — Mme  de  Vandeul's  (his  daughter)  Memoires  sur  Diderot, 
1787 ; — Naigeon,  Memoires  historiques  et  philosophiques  sur  M. 
Diderot,  Paris,  1821  ; — Rosenkranz,  Diderot's  Leben  und  Werke, 
Leipsic,  1866  ; — John  Morley,  Diderot  and  the  Encyclopedists, 
London,  1878 ; — Edinond  Scherer,  Diderot,  etude,  Paris,  1880. 

Consult  for  the  second  half  of  Voltaire's  life,  in  addition  to  the 
works  mentioned  above  : — his  correspondence  with  Mme  du  Deffand, 
Lescure's  edition,  Paris,  1865  ; — Lucien  Perey  and  G.  Maugras,  La  vie 
in  time  de  Voltaire  aux  Delices,  Paris,  1885  ; — G.  Maugras,  Voltaire  et 
Jean-Jacques  Rousseau,  Paris,  1886. 

Consult  for  d'Alembert :  his  correspondence  with  Frederick — the 
Correspondance  de  Mme  du  Deffand,  Lescure's  edition.  1865  ; — the 
correspondence  of  Mile  de  Lespinasse,  edition  Eug.  Asse,  1876 ; — 
Condorcet,  Eloge  d'Alembert,  among  his  Eloges  academiques,  1784  ; — 
Charles  Henry,  Correspondance  inedite  d'Alembert,  Paris,  1887  ; — 
J.  Bertrand,  d'Alembert  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  fran9ais  "  series, 
Paris,  1889. 

Useful  details  may  be  obtained  from  the  following  works  : — Male- 
sherbe's  Memoires  stir  la  librairie,  Paris,  1809  ; — Garat,  Memoires  sur 


314    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

glands  (1718)  and  on  the  causes  of  the  weight  of  bodies, 
while  the  first  important  work  he  had  planned  was  a 
physical  history  of  the  earth.  Voltaire's  essays  on  the 
nature  of  fire  and  on  the  measurement  of  motive  forces 
(1741)  were  held  in  esteem.  On  his  return  from  his 
sojourn  in  England  he  had  promulgated  the  theories  of 
Newton.  While  it  might  be  questioned  whether  his 
Alzire  or  his  Zaire  raised  him  above  Racine  or  Corneille, 
there  could  be  no  doubt  that  he  possessed  a  knowledge 
of  many  matters  with  which  the  author  of  the  Cid 
and  the  author  of  Andromaque  had  had  no  acquaint- 
ance and  could  have  had  no  acquaintance.  He  was 
conscious,  and  those  around  him  were  conscious  also, 
that  new  horizons  had  opened  out  before  the  human 
intelligence.  It  was  the  joint  action  of  all  these  con- 
siderations, and  not  a  theoretical  view  expressed  by  a 

la  vie  de  M.  Suard,  Paris,  1820  ; — Felix  Eocquain,  L'esprit 
revolutionnaire  avant  la  Revolution,  Paris,  1878 ; — J.  Kiintziger,  La 
propagande  des  Encyclopedistes  francais  en  Belgique,  Paris,  1891 ; — 
Henri  Francotte,  La  propagande  des  Encyclopedistes  francais  an 
pays  de  Liege,  Brussels,  1880 ; — Edmond  Scherer,  Melchoir  Grimm, 
Paris,  1887. 

Finally,  the  subject  should  be  studied  in  the  following  works  from 
a  general  point  of  view  :  Damiron,  Memoires  pour  servir  a  I'histoire 
de  la  philosophic  au  XVIII"  siecle,  1858-1864; — Lanfrey,  L'eglise  et 
les  philosophes  au  XVIIP  siecle,  1855  ; — Ernest  Bersot,  Etudes  sur  la 
XV 'IIP  siecle,  1855  ; — Barni,  Histoire  des  idees  politiques  et  morales 
en  France  au  XVIII'  siecle,  1865-1866 ; — and  H.  Taine,  Ancien 
Regime,  1875. 

I.— The  Early  Phases  of  tlie  Undertaking. 

The  encyclopedias  of  the  Eenaissance — and  in  particular  the 
Encyclopedia  omnium  scientiarum  of  Alstedius  or  Alstedt,  1620  ; — • 
Bayles'  Dictionary  [Cf.  supra],  1696-1706  ; — and  Ephraim  Chambers' 
English  Cyclopedia,  1728. — The  translation  of  this  latter  work  is 
suggested  to  the  bookseller  Lebreton  ; — who  agrees  to  the  idea, 
1740  ; — but  the  translators  and  the  publisher  falling  out, — the 


THE   DEFOEMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  315 

Bachelor  of  the  Sorbonne,  that  was  contributing  to 
the  formation,  the  development,  and  the  popularity  of 
the  idea  of  progress.  The  number  and  variety  of  the 
recent  acquisitions  made  by  science  gave  weight  to  the 
conception,  with  the  result  that  science,  if  not  already 
the  idol  it  was  destined  to  become,  was  universally 
regarded  with  respect  or  even  with  superstition,  while 
these  preoccupations  of  a  scientific  order  invested  litera- 
ture with  a  new  character.  Buffon,  who  may  almost 
be  said  to  have  learned  to  read  in  the  mathematical 
writings  of  the  Marquis  de  1'Hopital,  began  his  career 
in  the  field  of  "  letters "  with  translations  of  Hales' 
work  on  vegetable  statics  and  Newton's  treatise  on 
fluxions  (1740).  There  were  still  writers  of  tragedies, 
novels,  and  comedies,  but  it  was  with  a  new  System 
of  Musical  Notation  that  Rousseau  arrived  in  Paris 


undertaking  remains  in  abeyance  until  the  intervention  of  the 
Abbe  du  Gua  de  Halves  [Cf.  as  to  du  Gua  de  Halves,  Diderot's 
Salons  ;  and  Condorcet's  Eloge  de  du  Gua  de  Malves],  who 
widens  the  scope  of  the  undertaking  ; — but  he  too  falls  out  with 
Lebreton ; — who  approaches  d'Alembert  and  Diderot  on  the  subject. 
The  scheme  is  still  further  enlarged ; — Lebreton  secures  additional 
financial  support ; — d'Alembert  and  Diderot  recruit  numerous  writers  ; 
— and  d'Aguessau  is  prevailed  on  to  grant  the  "  privilege  "  necessary  for 
the  publication  of  the  work,  1746. — Of  the  "  privilege  "  to  publish  a 
book  under  the  old  regime  and  of  its  true  nature  [Cf .  Saugrain,  Le 
code  de  la  librairie,  1744 ;  Diderot,  Lettre  sur  le  commerce  de  la 
librairie,  1767;  and  Haleshei'bes,  Memoires  sur  la  librairie,  1809]. 
That  the  authorities  in  nowise  looked  askance  at  the  publication  of 
the  Encyclopedia ; — and  how  Diderot  having  been  incarcerated  at 
Vincennes, — it  was  due  to  the  efforts  of  the  booksellers  that  he  was 
set  at  liberty, — so  as  to  allow  him  to  work  at  the  Encyclopedia,  1749. 
— The  Prospectus  of  the  Encyclopedia  ; — it  sets  forth  that  the  object 
of  the  work  was  twofold  :  (1)  to  systematise  the  branches  of  human 
knowledge ; — (2)  to  give  the  "  mechanical  arts  "  the  place  they  de- 
served in  this  schema. — This  dual  purpose  is  again  insisted  on  in  the 
Preliminary  Discourse  to  the  Encyclopedia. — Other  novelties  an- 


316    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

(1741)  from  Geneva  or  Lyons,  and  it  was  his  Thoughts 
on  the  Interpretation  of  Nature  that  first  raised  Diderot 
from  obscurity.  This  new  trend  of  literature  was  to 
become  more  clearly  defined  every  day,  and  in  1750  was 
to  find  its  ultimate  expression  in  the  Encyclopedia. 

What  share  in  this  movement  is  to  be  ascribed  to 
English  influence  ?  It  is  difficult  to  answer  the  question 
with  exactness  [Cf.  on  this  subject :  Tabaraud,  Histoire 
du  philosophisme  anglais,  and  Leslie  Stephen,  English 
Thought  in  the  Eighteenth  Century].  The  influence  is  be- 
yond doubt,  and  if  it  merely  be  desired  to  fix  the  date  at 
which  it  began  to  operate,  it  is  not  of  much  importance 
whether  choice  be  made  of  the  year  1725,  the  year  of 
publication  of  Beat  de  Muralt's  Lettres  sur  les  Anglais, 
or  of  the  year  1733,  in  which  the  Abbe  Prevost  founded 
his  newspaper,  or  of  the  year  1734,  the  year  of  publica- 

nounced  in  the  Discourse,  and  that  they  are  of  more  far-reaching 
significance  than  would  be  thought  at  first  sight ; — while  they  may  be 
traced  to  the  influence  of  Descartes  as  well  as  to  that  of  Bacon. — But 
to  arrive  at  the  true  significance  of  the  Discourse  it  must  be  read  in 
connection  with  the  article  on  Encyclopedias  in  the  Encyclopedia 
itself. — D'Alembert  is  the  author  of  the  Discourse,  and  Diderot  that 
of  the  article. 

II.— Jean  Le  Rond  d'Alembert  [Paris,  1717 ;  f  1783,  Paris]. 

His  parents  [he  was  the  son  of  Mme  de  Tencin,  and,  it  is  said,  of 
the  Commissary  Destouches]  ; — his  studies  at  the  Mazarin  college  ; — 
his  talent  for  geometry  ; — his  early  treatises  on  the  laws  of  refraction 
(1739)  and  on  the  integral  calculus  (1740). — He  is  elected  a  member 
of  the  Academic  des  Sciences,  1741. — His  Traite  de  dynamique,  1743, 
and  his  Memoire  sur  la  cause  generate  des  vents,  1746  [Cf.  as  to  the 
value  of  d'Alembert's  scientific  labours,  J.  Bertrand's  d'Alembert]. 
What  were  the  reasons  which  induced  the  bookseller  Lebreton  to  give 
him  the  editorship  of  the  Encyclopedia, — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the 
situation  of  an  Academician  under  the  old  regime. — Whereas  the  title 
of  Academician  is  to-day  only  an  honorary  distinction,  to  be  an  Acade- 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  317 

tion  of  Voltaire's  Lettres  philosophiques.  It  is  known, 
too,  that  Voltaire  visited  England  in  1726,  Montesquieu 
in  1729,  and  Prevost  towards  the  same  period.  The 
mere  enumeration  of  the  translations  from  the  English 
about  this  time  would  demand  several  pages,  and  it  can 
be  affirmed  without  exaggeration  that  between  1725  and 
1750  French  versions  were  given  of  the  entire  writings 
of  Pope,  Addison,  Swift,  and  Eichardson,  not  to  men- 
tion minor  authors  [Cf.  Joseph  Texte,  Jean  Jacques 
Rousseau  et  Us  origines  du  cosmopolitisme  litteraire, 
Paris,  1895].  If  we  do  not  include  Locke  and  Bacon  in 
the  list,  the  reason  is  that  Bacon  wrote  more  especially 
in  Latin,  and  that  in  consequence,  in  1750,  the  Novum 
organum,  the  De  augmentis  scientiarum,  and  the  In- 
stauratio  magna  had  already  been  within  the  reach  of 
merely  cultured  readers  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ; 

mician  in  d'Alembert's  time  was  almost  to  occupy  a  State  function  ; — 
and  in  particular  the  Academician  possessed  influence, — and  in  virtue 
of  his  membership  he  entered  the  ranks  of  "  privileged  persons." — 
Other  considerations  which  induced  Lebreton  to  fix  his  choice  on 
d'Alembert ; — his  conciliatory  disposition  ; — his  social  position  ; — his 
liaisons  with  Mme  du  Deffand, — which  should  date  from  1746  or 
1747  [Cf.  Lescure's  edition  of  Mme  du  Deffand's  correspondence, 
Paris,  1865]  ; — his  relations  with  Mme  Geoffrin. — He  was  already 
almost  a  personage  when  he  consented  to  take  the  Encyclopedia  in 
hand ; — and  it  was  in  1752  that  Frederick  offered  to  make  him 
President  of  his  Academy  of  Sciences  when  the  post  should  become 
vacant  by  the  death  of  Maupertuis. 

III.— Denis  Diderot  [Langres,  1713;  f  1784,  Paris]. 

Diderot's  family ; — his  early  studies  at  Langres  and  Paris ; — his 
refusal  to  become  a  doctor,  a  barrister,  or  a  solicitor ; — he  quarrels 
with  his  family. — His  early  poverty ; — he  writes  for  the  booksellers 
and  gives  lessons  in  mathematics ; — he  even  thinks  of  turning  actor. — 
His  escapades  [Cf.  Mme  de  Vandeul,  Memoires,  and  Naigeon,  loc. 
cit.~\. — His  marriage,  1743; — and  his  definite  estrangement  from  his 
father. — His  first  translations ;  Stanyan's  History  of  Greece,  1743  ; — 


318    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

while  Locke's  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding  had 
been  accessible  to  the  French  public  for  a  shorter  period 
indeed,  but  still  for  half  a  century,  through  Coste's 
translation  published  in  1700. 

This  observation  has  its  importance,  as  it  helps  us  to 
understand  the  nature  of  the  English  influence.  For 
since  it  is  Locke  and  Bacon  who  are  about  to  become 
the  intellectual  masters  of  the  new  generation,  the  fact 
that  they  did  not  occupy  this  position  earlier  doubtless 
points  to  the  conclusion  that  the  English  influence  did 
not  come  into  effect  by  means  of  what  may  be  termed 
infiltration,  as  the  Spanish  influence  had  done  formerly, 
but  in  consequence  of  the  substitution  of  a  new  ideal 
for  that  previously  in  vogue.  In  other  words,  so  long 
as  the  French  genius  was  dominated  by  the  classic 
deal,  and  as  French  literature,  as  has  been  seen,  re- 
James'  Dictionary  of  Medicine,  1746 ; — his  Essai  sur  le  merite  et  la 
vertu,  which  is  a  paraphrase  of  Shaftesbury. — His  first  original  work, 
Les  pensees  philosophiques,  1746 ; — and  whether  it  is  true  that  he 
wrote  it  to  satisfy  a  caprice  of  Mme  de  Puisieux,  his  mistress  ? — In 
any  case  she  gave  him  a  still  more  unhappy  inspiration  when  she 
prompted  him  to  write  his  Bijoux  indiscrets,  1748 ; — an  obscene  novel 
in  the  style  of  those  of  Duclos  and  Crebillon,  though  infinitely  coarser ; 
— and  a  book  of  which  he  will  say  at  a  later  period  "  that  he  would 
willingly  have  cut  off  an  arm  not  to  have  written  it. — His  Lettre  sur  les 
aveugles  a  Vusage  de  ceux  qui  voient,  1749 ; — and  of  the  interest  of 
a  comparison  between  this  work  and  Condillac's  Traite  des  sensations. 
— The  work,  moreover,  procures  Diderot  a  term  of  imprisonment  at 
Vincennes ; — -not  on  account  of  its  audacity ; — but  of  a  passage  in  it 
which  aroused  the  displeasure  of  Mme  Dupre  de  Saint-Maur, — the 
intimate  friend  of  Beaumur,  of  the  Academic  des  Sciences. — Of  the 
difference  between  the  situations  of  Diderot  and  d'Alembert ; — and 
that  it  perhaps  accounts  to  some  extent  for  the  subsequent  straining 
of  their  relations. — Diderot  has  been  faithfully  portrayed  by  Bacon 
in  the  following  sentence :  Sunt  qui  cogitationum  vertigine  delec- 
tanlur,  ac  pro  servitute  habent  fide  fixa  aut  axiomatis  constantibus 
constringi. 


THE   DEFOEMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  319 

mained  "national"  despite  its  "social"  characteristics, 
so  long  as  this  was  the  case,  we  did  not  come  under  the 
English  influence ;  but  when  the  classic  ideal  began  to 
lose  ground,  the  English  influence  at  once  entered  the 
breach,  qua  data  porta,  and  asserted  its  supremacy.  These 
considerations  enable  us  to  obtain  a  better  view  of  the 
effects  of  this  influence,  and  to  affirm  that,  to  begin  with, 
they  were  not  particularly  happy. 

"  We  have  borrowed  from  the  English  annuities, 
reversible  funds,  sinking  funds,  the  construction  and 
manosuvring  of  ships,  the  laws  of  gravitation,  the  diffe- 
rential calculus,  the  seven  primary  colours,  and  vaccina- 
tion. Imperceptibly  we  shall  acquire  from  them  their 
noble  freedom  of  thought  and  their  profound  contempt 
for  the  petty  trifling  of  the  schools."  It  is  in  these 
terms  that  Voltaire  wrote  to  Helvetius,  but  he  forgot  to 


IV.— The  First  Difficulties  Encountered  by  the  Ency- 
clopedia. 

Whether  the  Jesuits  who  were  bringing  out  the  Journal  de  Trevoux 
were  jealous  of  the  success  of  the  Encyclopedia  ?  [Cf.  Diderot,  Lettre 
au  pere  Berthier,  vol.  xiii.  of  his  works ;  Voltaire,  Le  Tombeau  de 
la  Sorbonne,  vol.  xxxix. ;  and  d'Alembert,  Sur  la  destruction  des 
Jesuites]. — The  thesis  of  the  Abbe  de  Prades,  who  was  writing 
articles  on  theological  subjects  for  the  Encyclopedia  ; — its  con- 
demnation by  the  Sorbonne  [Cf.  Picot,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  185]. — 
Jesuits,  Jansenists,  and  the  official  world  seize  this  opportunity  to 
attack  the  Encyclopedia. — The  Abbe  de  Prades,  exiled  from  Paris, 
goes  to  Berlin ; — Voltaire  seeks  to  interest  Frederick  in  him ; — and  it 
is  on  this  occasion  that  his  relations  with  d'Alembert  and  Diderot 
become  for  the  first  time  in  any  way  close. — The  Encyclopedia  is 
"  suppressed  "  by  a  decree  in  Council,  1752  [Cf.  Memoires  de  Barbier, 
vol.  v.;  and  Memoires  d'Argenson,  vol.  vii.]. — But  as  the  work  has 
its  protectors  at  court, — including  Mme  de  Pompadour,  who  is  inte- 
rested in  the  undertaking  by  her  doctor,  Quesnay ; — and  in  the 
Cabinet,  including  M.  de  Malesherbes  himself  [Cf.  Mme  de  Vandeul, 
Memoires  sur  Diderot],  its  publication  is  allowed  to  go  on; — and 


320    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH    LITERATURE 

add  that  for  his  part  he  had  borrowed  further  his  Micro- 
megas  from  Swift,  his  Poeme  de  la  loi  naturelle  from 
Pope,  and  Zaire  from  Shakespeare.  Moreover,  having 
pillaged  Shakespeare  himself,  he  would  doubtless  have 
been  better  advised  had  he  refrained  from  deterring  his 
contemporaries  from  the  study  of  one  of  the  deepest  and 
purest  sources  of  poetry  the  world  possesses.  Again,  if 
we  examine  what  he  terms  the  "  noble  freedom  of 
thought  "  of  the  English,  we  find  that  he  refers  to  the 
aggressive  infidelity  of  such  writers  as  Bolingbroke, 
Collins,  and  Toland.  As  for  the  "  contempt  for  the  petty 
trifling  of  the  schools,"  it  is  doubtless  in  these  terms 
that  he  alludes  to  the  narrow  utilitarianism  of  Locke : 
"  There  is  no  knowledge  worthy  the  name  but  that  which 
leads  to  some  new  and  useful  invention,  which  teaches  us 
to  do  something  better,  quicker,  or  more  easily  than 

vols.  iii.,  iv.,  v.,  vi.  and  vii.  are  issued  regularly  between  1753  and 
1757. — The  Encyclopedists  profit  by  the  conflicts  between  the  Parlia- 
ment and  the  court,  1756  [Cf.  Rocquain,  L'Esprit  revolutionnaire, 
etc.]  ; — their  imprudences  [Cf.  the  article,  Encyclopedic]  ; — and  their 
admissions. — Barrister  Moreau's  pamphlet :  Memoir es  pour  servir  a 
I'histoire  des  Cacouacs,  1757, — and  the  article  in  the  Encyclopedia 
on  Geneva. — Outcry  raised  by  the  Geneva  pastors,  indignant  at 
having  been  praised  for  their  Socinian  tendencies. — Intervention  in 
the  quarrel  of  Voltaire  and  Rousseau ; — Rousseau  writes  his  Lettre 
sur  les  spectacles,  1758. — D'Alembert's  discouragement. — Diderot 
publishes  his  Pere  de  famille,  and  Helvetius  his  De  I'Esprit,  1758. — 
The  archbishop  of  Paris  issues  his  pastoral  charge. — The  Parliament 
takes  cognisance  of  the  affair ; — it  is  decided  to  judge  the  Encyclo- 
pedia and  the  book  of  Helvetius  together. — Speech  of  the  Procurer- 
General ; — condemnation  of  the  Encyclopedia; — the  "privilege"  of 
which  is  definitely  revoked,  March,  1759. — Pitiable  retractation  of 
Helvetius  ; — d'Alembert  retires  from  the  scene  ; — and  Rousseau 
abandons  the  cause. 

V.— The  Second  Period  of  Voltaire's  Life,  1750-1762. 

Voltaire's   sojourn  in  Berlin,  1750-1753 ; — and  whether  he   found 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  321 

before"  [Cf.  Joseph  Texte,  loc.  cit.,  p.  100].  Is  not  the 
conclusion  enforced,  that  the  only  English  thought  which 
exerted  an  influence  on  Frenchmen  between  1730  and 
1750,  was  that  which  offered  the  least  analogy  with  the 
classic  ideal,  wThich  was  most  contrary  and  even  most 
hostile  to  that  ideal?  The  purpose  of  literature,  which 
from  being  "  psychological  and  moral  "  had  been  first 
"social,"  and  then  "scientific,"  was  now  to  become  purely 
practical  under  the  influence  of  Bacon  and  Locke.  Backed 
by  the  authority  of  Newton,  who  somewhere  speaks  of 
poetry  as  ingenious  fiddle-faddle,  geometricians  are  about 
to  ask  what  a  tragedy  "proves";  while  d'Alembert  will 
not  hesitate  to  declare  in  the  preliminary  notice  to  the 
Encyclopedia  "that  if  the  ancients  had  produced  an  ency- 
clopedia, as  they  produced  so  many  great  works,  and  had 
this  manuscript  alone  survived  the  burning  of  the  famous 

Frederick  a  more  indulgent  master  than  Louis  XV.  ? — The  mistakes 
he  made ; — he  insists  on  the  king  dismissing  Baculard  d'Arnaud ; — 
and  on  his  not  taking  Freron  as  correspondent. — The  incident  in  con- 
nection with  the  Jew  Herschel  [Cf.  Desnoiresterres,  vol.  iv. ;  and 
Strauss,  Voltaire]. — Voltaire's  license  of  language  and  attitude  towards 
Frederick. — His  quarrels  with  Lessing  and  La  Beaumelle. — He  falls 
out  with  Maupertuis, — a  former  friend  of  Mme  du  Chatelet, — and  the 
President  of  the  Berlin  Academy  of  Sciences. — The  Diatribe  du  docteur 
Akakia,  1752. — Frederick  has  the  pamphlet  burned  by  the  public 
executioner. — Voltaire's  anger,  humiliation,  and  submission  [Cf.  Cor- 
respondence, Preuss'  edition,  1752-1753J  ; — he  decides  to  ask  for  leave 
of  absence  on  the  plea  that  he  desires  to  drink  the  waters  at  Ploni- 
bieres ; — Frederick  eagerly  grants  his  request ; — and  accepts  Voltaire's 
resignation  of  his  title  of  "  Chamberlain  to  the  King  of  Prussia."- 
Voltaire's  departure,  March  26,  1753. — The  Frankfort  incident.— He 
makes  successive  stays  at  Strasburg,  Colmar,  Lyons  and  Geneva. 

Voltaire's  historical  works. — Voltaire's  two  principal  historical 
works  belong  to  this  period  of  his  life  : — the  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV.,  of 
which  the  first  edition  was  issued  in  Berlin  in  1751 ; — and  the  Essai 
sur  les  moeurs,  of  which  the  first  edition  under  this  title  appeared  at 
Geneva  in  1756 ; — though  it  was  eleven  years  earlier  that  the  Mercure  de 

22 


322    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Alexandrian  library,  it  would  have  sufficed  to  console  us 
for  the  loss  of  the  others." 


II 

One  of  the  consequences  of  these  new  principles  is,  that 
there  being  scarcely  anything  in  the  world  less  "  literary  " 
in  its  essence  than  the  Encyclopedia  of  d'Alembert  and 
Diderot,  the  work  scarcely  belongs  to  the  history  of  litera- 
ture. For  this  reason  we  shall  not  relate  here  how  the 
French  Encyclopedia,  originally  conceived  as  a  mere 
translation  of  the  Cyclopedia  of  Ephraim  Chambers, 
developed  into  the  most  important  piece  of  publishing 
enterprise  that  had  as  yet  been  seen,  nor  how  circum- 
stances, far  more  than  men,  converted  what  was  at  first 

France  had  begun  to  publish  detached  passages  of  the  work. — The 
Annales  de  VEmpire  (1753)  also  belong  to  this  period  ;— as  too  does 
the  definite  edition  of  Charles  XII.,  the  date  of  which  is  1756-1757. — 
The  two  first-mentioned  works  introduced  a  new  method  of  writing 
history  into  European  literature. 

In  Voltaire's  hands  history,  which  had  previously  been  the  work  of 
mere  annalists  or  had  been  purely  polemical,  became  in  the  first  place 
narrative  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  and  by  this  is  implied  : — the 
exercise  of  choice  as  regards  the  subject  and  the  choosing  of  a  subject 
of  general  interest  and  not  of  interest  to  the  learned  only  ; — the  use 
of  discrimination  as  regards  the  facts  to  receive  mention,  those  which 
merely  obstruct  the  narrative,  or  are  useless  and  uninviting,  being 
eliminated ; — and  a  continuity  of  interest  only  obtainable  by  recourse 
to  art  and  intentionally. — This  amounts  to  saying  that  whereas  history 
before  Voltaire's  time  had  been  erudite  or  learned,  in  his  hands  it 
became,  in  the  second  place,  literary,  and  by  this  is  implied : — the 
paying  attention  to  style  and  to  the  arrangement  of  the  component 
parts ; — the  constant  reminding  the  reader  of  the  interest  offered  by 
past  events  to  the  living  generation ; — and  in  consequence  a  perpetual 
invitation  to  the  reader  to  exercise  his  faculty  of  thought. — Finally, 
history  which  had  been  indifferent  to  its  own  subject  matter  became 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  323 

a  purely  commercial  undertaking  into  the  most  formidable 
weapon  of  offence  that  had  hitherto  been  forged  against 
tradition.  Furthermore  we  shall  not  attempt  to  determine 
the  general  or  central  idea  of  the  work,  an  idea  which 
doubtless  was  never  particularly  "  general "  as  conceived 
by  the  jejune,  rigid  and  narrow  mind  of  d'Alembert  or 
particularly  clear  as  reflected  in  the  nebulous  brain  of 
Diderot  [Cf .  in  Diderot's  works  his  article  Encyclopedic] . 
The  number  of  wTiters  engaged  in  carrying  out  the  scheme 
could  not  fail  to  be  an  additional  source  of  obscurity ; 
masterpieces  are  never  the  outcome  of  the  combined 
efforts  of  two  authors  and  still  less  of  those  of  several. 
Finally,  in  spite  of  the  anecdotal  interest  of  the  story,  we 
shall  not  narrate  how  the  Encyclopedia,  after  multiple 
incidents  and  many  successive  "  suppressions,"  developed 
into  the  monumental  compilation  of  which  Lord  Chester- 

in  Voltaire's  hands  philosophic,  by  which  is  implied  : — the  subordina- 
tion of  facts  to  the  consequences  in  which  they  resulted ; — the  appre- 
ciation of  these  facts  in  the  light  of  a  given  ideal : — and  the  basing  of 
this  ideal  on  a  given  conception  of  life  and  of  humanity. 

The  disadvantages  of  this  mode  of  understanding  history ; — and 
that  Voltaire  himself  was  not  uninfluenced  by  them. 

The  disadvantages  of  treating  history  philosophically  are : — the 
substitution,  when  judging  men  and  things,  of  the  authority  of  an 
abstract  criterion  for  the  sentiment  of  the  diversity  that  distinguishes 
the  different  epochs ; — the  putting  all  history  in  this  way  on  the  same 
level ; — and  in  consequence  the  distorting  or  perversion  of  history. — 
Voltaire's  respect  for  literary  considerations  makes  no  less  for 
historical  misrepresentation ; — if  the  importance  of  historical  events 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  possibility  of  presenting  them  under  an 
attractive  guise  ; — if  the  interest  the  events  may  have  for  posterity  is 
at  any  rate  no  measure  of  their  importance  ; — and  if  nothing  is  more 
calculated  to  obscure  the  true  significance  of  a  period  than  the  desire 
to  present  it  in  such  a  manner  as  shall  please  our  contemporaries. — 
Finally  Voltaire's  method  offers  disadvantages  in  so  far  as  it  is  narra- 
tive ; — if  the  choice  of  the  facts  to  be  dwelled  on  ought  not  to  depend 
on  the  caprice  of  the  historian ; — if  there  are  "  subjects  which  make  a 


324    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

field  said,  in  a  letter  to  his  son  who  had  asked  him 
whether  he  should  make  its  acquisition  : 

"  You  will  buy  it,  my  son,  and  seated  on  it  you  will 
read  Candide."  On  the  other  hand,  since  even  at  the 
present  day  a  regrettable  confusion  is  often  made  between 
"  the  spirit  of  the  Encyclopedia  "  and  "  the  classic  spirit," 
recalling  that  which  was  long  made  between  the  spirit  of 
the  Eeformation  and  the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance  ;  since 
there  has  even  been  a  disposition  to  regard  the  encyclo- 
pedic spirit  as  the  final  and  in  some  sort  preordained 
expression,  as  the  necessary  outcome  of  the  classic  spirit ; 
for  these  reasons  an  effort  must  be  made  to  dissipate  this 
confusion,  and  to  show  that  while  there  may  perhaps  be 
one  or  two  features  in  common  between  the  encyclo- 
pedic and  the  classic  spirit,  as  there  were  between  the 
spirit  of  the  Renaissance  and  that  of  the  Reformation,  in 

claim  upon  the  attention  "  and  it  is  "  impossible  to  make  the  strain- 
ing of  the  attention  other  than  a  laborious  effort " ; — and  if,  finally, 
there  are  no  useless  or  cumbersome  facts  in  history, — but  merely  facts 
of  which  we  do  not  perceive  the  significance. 

How  the  accumulation  by  Voltaire  of  all  these  defects, — defects 
aggravated  moreover  by  his  very  success, — reduced  his  other  histories 
his  Histoire  du  Parlement  (1769)  for  example — to  the  rank  of  mere 
pamphlets ; — and  thus  degraded  history  till  it  became  the  mere 
instrument  of  his  philosophic  passions. — History,  like  tragedy, 
demands  to  be  treated  for  its  own  sake ; — but  this  does  not  prevent 
the  Essai  sur  les  mceurs ; — and  above  all  the  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV. 
being  epoch-making  works  in  the  art  of  writing  history ; — or  Voltaire 
himself  from  having  exerted  on  the  direction  taken  by  historical 
studies, — almost  as  considerable  an  influence  as  on  the  drama  itself, 
and  perhaps  indeed  an  influence  even  more  considerable. 

Voltaire  takes  up  his  residence  at  the  villa  Delices,  1755. — Publica- 
tion of  the  poems  La  loi  naturelle  and  Le  Desastre  de  Lisbonne, 
1756;— Rousseau  addresses  him  his  letter  on  the  subject  of  Providence. 
—Voltaire's  difficulties  with  the  authorities  of  Geneva. — He  suggests 
to  d'Alembert  the  article  on  Geneva  printed  in  the  Encyclopedia. — 
Renewed  intervention  of  Rousseau  in  the  quarrel  [Cf.  above,  p.  320]. 


THE   DEFOBMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  325 

every  other  respect  they  offer  nothing  but  opposition  and 
contradiction. 

For  example,  "  the  classic  spirit  "  only  took  shape  by 
dint  of  freeing  itself,  and  at  the  same  time  Frenchmen 
and  French  literature,  from  all  foreign  influence.  The 
"encyclopedic  spirit,"  on  the  contrary,  attained  to  self- 
consciousness,  as  has  just  been  seen,  owing  to  the 
quickening  action  of  English  thought.  What  is  more, 
after  failing  to  recognise  its  harbingers  in  Descartes  and 
Bayle,  it  preferred  to  trace  its  origin  to  Locke  and  Bacon. 
Who  is  unaware  that,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  Esprit  des 
Lois  is  merely  a  glorification  of  the  English  Constitution? 
The  case  is  the  same  with  the  Traite  des  sensations, 
which  is  nothing  more  than  an  "  adaptation"  of  Locke's 
Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding.  The  Encyclopedic 
itself,  as  we  remarked  above,  was  intended  originally  to 

— Purchase  of  Ferney,  1758. — Candide,  1759  ; — Tancrede,  1760 ; — the 
Ecossaise,  1760 ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  role  of  Freron  [Cf . 
Ch.  Nisard,  Les  ennemis  de  Voltaire]. — At  the  same  period  Voltaire 
writes  what  we  possess  of  his  Memoirs  [Cf.  Beuchot's  edition,  vol.  xl.]. 
— A  few  skits  of  indifferent  value :  the  Relation  de  la  maladie  et  de 
la  mort  du  Pere  Berthier,  1759 ; — Les  Quand,  1760,  a  rejoinder  to  an 
academical  discourse  hi  which  Lefranc  de  Pompignan  had  attacked 
the  philosophers ; — his  Dialogues  chretiens,  1760  ; — and  a  more  im- 
portant work,  the  Extrait  des  sentiments  de  Jean  Meslier,  1762, — cause 
him  to  be  ranked  definitely  as  the  unquestioned  leader  of  the  philo- 
sophic party. — The  Eloge  de  Crebillon,  1762  ; — the  Commentaire  sur 
Corneille, — and  the  Rccueil  de  pieces  originates  concernant  la  mort 
des  sieurs  Calas,  1762. 

VI. — After  the  suppression  of  the  Encyclopedia. 

How  the  issue  of  the  Encyclopedia  was  proceeded  with  in  spite  of 
its  "  suppression  "  ; — thanks  to  the  protection  of  M.  de  Malesherbes, 
who  had  supreme  control  over  the  printing  and  publishing  of  books  ; 
— of  M.  de  Sartine,  Lieutenant  of  Police ; — and  of  Mine  de  Pompadour ; 
— and  also  because  the  Government  was  influenced  by  the  importance 
of  the  material  interests  involved  in  the  enterprise. — The  consideration 


326    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

be  a  mere  translation  of  an  English  work  ;  while  as  to 
Diderot,  who  has  undoubtedly  some  pretensions  to  be 
regarded  as  the  incarnation  of  the  encyclopedic  spirit,  there 
is  nothing  that  is  not  English  in  the  work  of  a  writer,  who 
is  still  often  termed  the  "most  German"  of  Frenchmen. 
He  began  by  translating  Stanyan's  History  of  Greece ;  his 
Essai  sur  le  merite  et  la  vertu  is  a  mere  paraphrase  of 
Shaftesbury ;  while  he  imitates  Kichardson  and  Sterne  in 
his  stories  and  novels,  and  Moore  and  Lillo  in  his  dramas 
or  his  middle-class  tragedies.  ...  It  would  be  superfluous 
to  multiply  the  examples  !  Seeing,  however,  that  the 
foreigner  is  now  translated  or  appealed  to  as  a  source  of 
inspiration  with  an  ardour  equal  to  that  with  which  the 
imitation  of  him  was  formerly  avoided,  can  it  be  said  that 
no  change  has  occurred?  is  it  possible  to  consider  this 
different  disposition  as  the  effect  of  the  same  causes? 

of  the  Government  went  further  still ; — as  is  proved  by  the  incident 
in  connection  with  the  comedy  Les  Philosophes  (May,  1760) ; — and  yet 
more  so  by  that  in  connection  with  the  Ecossaise  (July,  1760), — if  it 
be  a  fact  that  Freron,  whom  Voltaire  had  grossly  insulted  by  name 
came  very  near  to  being  prevented  from  replying  to  him  in  the  Annee 
litteraire  [Cf.  Desnoiresterres,  La  comedie  satirique  au  XVIIIe  siecle, 
Paris,  1885]. — That  this  tolerance  of  the  Government  was  not  uncon- 
nected with  the  fear  of  seeing  an  undertaking  forbidden  in  France 
brought  to  a  successful  conclusion  abroad,  in  Berlin  perhaps  or  in  St. 
Petersburg ; — and  further  with  the  necessity  the  authorities  were  under 
of  making  some  concessions  to  the  philosophers, — on  the  eve  of  the 
expulsion  of  the  Jesuits,  1762. — D'Alembert's  work:  De  la  destruction 
des  Jesuites  en  France ; — and  that  it  is  curious  to  note  that  its  publi- 
cation coincided  with  the  issue  of  the  last  ten  volumes  of  the  Encyclo- 
pedia.— Eemarks  on  this  subject ; — and  of  the  difficulty  of  circulating 
ten  folio  volumes  clandestinely. — Comparative  indifference  amid  which 
they  appeared ;— and  that  this  indifference  was  natural  ;• — seeing  that 
they  contained  scarcely  anything  that  had  not  been  touched  on,  to 
say  the  least,  in  the  first  seven  volumes  ; — and  that  these  first  seven 
volumes  had  realised  all  the  effect  that  could  be  expected  from  the 
work. 


THE   DEFORMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  327 

And  if  the  answer  is  negative  from  both  an  historical  and 
a  logical  point  of  view,  a  first  difference  is  perceived 
between  the  "  encyclopedic  spirit "  and  the  "  classic 
spirit." 

A  second  difference  lies  in  the  fact  that  whereas  the 
classic  spirit,  from  the  time  of  Ronsard  to  that  of 
Boileau,  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  years, 
had  displayed  the  utmost  respect  for  the  ancients  and 
for  tradition,  the  very  essence  of  the  encyclopedic  spirit, 
on  the  contrary,  is  contempt  for  the  ancients  and 
hatred  of  tradition.  These  terms  are  not  too  strong. 
The  encyclopedists  not  only  did  not  appreciate  the 
ancients  ;  they  despised  them.  They  regarded  as  a  mere 
prejudice,  as  a  foolish  prejudice,  not  to  say  as  mere 
pedantic  hypocrisy,  the  admiration  which  some  few 
humanists  still  ventured  to  profess  for  Virgil  and 

VII.— Claude-Adrien  Helvetius  [Paris,  1715 ;  f  1771,  Paris]. 

His  father  and  grandfather  were  doctors ; — he  becomes  a  farmer 
of  the  taxes  and  a  patron  of  literature  ; — steward  to  Queen  Marie 
Leczinska ; — beset  with  a  desire  for  celebrity,  he  starts  by  acquiring 
a  reputation  as  a  dandy. — He  next  essays  poetry  ; — and  submits  his 
efforts  to  Voltaire ; — who  encourages  him  by  reminding  him  that 
Atticus  was  a  farmer  of  the  taxes ; — though  at  the  same  time  he 
declares  the  poems  somewhat  commonplace. — Helvetius  then  turns 
his  attention  to  mathematics  ;  —  and  finally  to  philosophy.  —  He 
resigns  his  post  of  farmer  of  the  taxes,  and  with  much  labour 
composes  his  book  De  V Esprit,  1758. — Mediocrity  of  the  book  in 
general. — The  worst  paradoxes  are  propounded  in  it  on  the  strength 
of  proofs  ; — which  for  the  most  part  are  mere  scandalous  "  anecdotes  " ; 
— in  spite  of  which  no  book  has  made  more  noise  in  its  time ; — or 
spread  abroad  more  ideas  destined  to  make  their  way  in  the  world. — 
Helvetius  was  the  first  writer  to  declare  "  that  ethics  ought  to  be 
treated  according  to  the  methods  of  experimental  physics."  [Cf.  De 
V Esprit,  Discourse  ii.,  chap.  15] ; — that  moral  questions  are  at 
bottom  merely  social  questions, — "  since  the  vices  of  a  people  always 
lie  hid  in  ito  legislation"  [Cf.  De  VEsprit,  Discourse  ii.,  chap.  15]  ; 


328    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Homer.  "  At  one  time  I  was  made  to  believe  that  I  took 
a  pleasure  in  reading  Homer, — are  the  words  the  author 
of  Candide  puts  in  the  mouth  of  the  senator  Pococurante, 
— but  this  perpetual  repetition  of  combats  .  .  .  bored 
me  beyond  measure.  It  has  happened  to  me  to  ask 
the  learned  whether  they,  too,  found  Homer  tedious 
reading.  .  .  .All  of  them  who  were  sincere  confessed 
that  the  work  could  not  hold  their  attention  an  instant, 
though  it  was  necessary  to  have  it  in  a  library  as  a 
monument  of  antiquity,  just  as  one  preserved  those 
rusty  coins  that  have  lost  all  commercial  value  "  [Cf. 
Candide,  chap.  25].  Let  a  comparison  be  made  between 
this  quotation  from  Candide  and  the  following  passage 
from  the  Discours  sur  I'histoire  universelle  [Cf.  part  iii., 
chap.  5]  :  "  One  of  the  reasons  of  the  enthusiasm 
aroused  by  the  poetry  of  Homer  is  the  fact  that  he 

— and  further  that  there  is  nothing  education  cannot  accomplish 
[Cf.  De  I' Esprit,  Discourse  iii.]. — Sensation  aroused  by  the  book. — 
Helvetius  makes  a  full  and  pitiful  retractation ;— and  afterwards 
remains  silent ; — and  disappears  from  the  literary  scene. 

VIII.— Frederic-Melchior  Grimm  [Ratisbon,  1723;  f  1807, 
Gotha]. 

Grimm's  classical  and  philosophic  culture ; — his  first  literary  efforts 
and  his  tragedy  Banise  (in  German). — His  arrival  in  Paris  ; — his 
relations  with  Diderot,  Rousseau,  and  the  society  of  which  Mme 
d'Epinay  was  the  centre,  1749-1750. — His  two  Letters  on  German 
Literature  [Cf.  Mercure  de  France,  1751]  ; — the  letter  on  the  subject 
of  OmpJiale  [Destouches'  opera],  1752; — and  the  Petit  prophete  de 
Boehmischbroda,  1753  [Cf.  Adolphe  Jullien,  La  Musique  et  les 
Philosophes  au,  XVIII6  siecle,  Paris,  1873]. — The  Correspondance 
litteraire  [1754-1790]  ; — and  that  it  is  inseparable  from  the  ency- 
clopedic movement, — of  which  it  was  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years  what 
may  be  called  the  secret  official  organ  in  Europe. — What  Grimm  and 
the  numerous  assistants  who  worked  under  his  supervision  really 
did, — was  to  make  accessible  to  the  German  sovereigns,  his  sub- 
scribers,— the  ideas  of  the  "  corporation  of  philosophers  "  ; — while 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  329 

sang  the  victories  and  advantages  scored  by  Greece  over 
Asia.  On  the  side  of  Asia  was  Venus,  the  emblem  of 
pleasure,  of  profligate  passion  and  of  effeminacy ;  on  the 
side  of  Greece  were  Juno,  the  grave  patroness  of  con- 
jugal love,  Mercury,  the  god  of  eloquence,  and  Jupiter, 
who  personifies  political  wisdom.  On  the  side  of  Asia 
was  the  impetuous  and  brutal  Mars,  or  war  conducted 
with  fury;  on  the  side  of  Greece  was  Pallas,  that  is 
the  military  art  and  valour  guided  by  intelligence.  .  .  . 
From  this  moment  Greece  .  .  .  could  not  suffer  that 
Asia  should  harbour  the  thought  of  effecting  her  conquest, 
for  had  she  submitted  to  this  yoke  she  would  have  seemed 
to  make  virtue  subject  to  profligacy,  the  mind  to  the  body, 
and  true  courage  to  an  unreasoning  force  residing  solely 
in  ..numbers."  The  light  in  which  the-  classic  spirit 
regarded  the  masterpieces  of  antiquity  has  never  been 

contriving  with  great  skill  to  soften  down  what  there  was  in  these 
ideas  that  might  not  have  been  to  the  liking  of  princes  ; — by  dint 
of  showing  the  ideas  in  such  a  light  as  to  make  the  sovereigns 
regard  them  as  a  means  of  destroying  the  hindrances  that  still  stood 
between  them  and  absolute  power. — On  the  other  hand,  as  the 
Correspondance  was  not  published  until  1812,  this  is  not  the  place 
to  judge  it  on  its  merits  ; — and  it  will  suffice  to  have  noted  to  what 
extent  it  contributed  to  the  encyclopedic  propaganda. 

IX.— The  Encyclopedic  Propaganda. 

Financial  success  of  the  undertaking. — There  were  4,800  subscribers 
in  1750. — Foundation  of  the  Journal  encyclopedique,  1756  ; — its 
editor,  P.  Rousseau  (of  Toulouse)  and  his  co-workers ; — its  wide 
circulation. — Centres  of  the  encyclopedic  influence  in  Paris :  Mme 
de  Geoffrin's  salon  [Cf.  Memo-ires  de  Marmontel  ;  and  P.  de  Segur, 
Le  royaume  de  la  rue  Saint-Honore,  Paris,  1897]  ; — Mine  d'Epinay's 
group  [Cf.  Memoires  de  Mme  d'Epinay,  Boiteau's  edition,  Paris, 
1863  ;  and  L.  Perey  and  G.  Maugras,  La  jeunesse  de  Mme  d'Epinay, 
Paris,  1882]  ; — Baron  d'Holbach's  group  [Cf.  Diderot,  Correspondance 
avec  Mile  Volland  ;  and  d'Avezac-Lavigne,  La  societe  du  baron 
d'Holbach,  Paris,  1875]  ; — and  Mile  de  Lespinasse  and  her  friends  [Cf. 


330    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FKENCH   LITERATUEE 

better  defined  :  masterpieces  it  looked  on  as  lessons  in 
social  morality  presented  under  the  guise  of  poetic  fictions. 
The  encyclopedists  considered  these  fictions  as  mere 
trifling,  and  were  blind  to  the  lesson  they  convey. 
Tradition,  too,  in  their  eyes,  in  literature  and  in  every 
other  sphere,  is  only  an  impediment,  bred  of  super- 
stition, to  their  freedom  of  thought,  to  the  "  diffusion 
of  enlightenment,"  and  to  the  progress  of  reason.  "  It 
is  by  weakening  the  foolish  veneration  of  the  masses 
for  ancient  laws  and  customs,"  writes  Helvetius,  "that 
sovereigns  will  be  enabled  to  rid  the  earth  of  the 
greater  number  of  the  evils  that  afflict  it,  and  to  assure 
the  duration  of  their  empires "  [Cf.  De  I'Esprit,  2nd 
discourse,  ch.  17].  His  meaning  surely  is  that  eman- 
cipation from  tradition  is  the  very  essence  of  progress. 
And  shall  we  not  admit  that  there  is  certainly  a  difference 

her  correspondence]. — How  the  very  adversaries  of  the  Encyclopedia 
served  its  cause  ; — and  in  particular  Palissot  and  Freron  ; — -who  were 
always  referring  to  it ; — and  often  for  no  other  reason  than  with  a 
view  to  filling  their  papers. — Spread  of  the  encyclopedic  ideas  among 
the  lower  middle  class  [Cf.  Correspondance  de  Mme  Roland  avec 
les  demoiselles  Cannet]  ; — and  doubtless  even  in  the  provinces ; — • 
although  it  is  impossible  to  give  trustworthy  proof  of  the  fact  [Cf. 
however  the  letters  of  Mme  Butet  in  J.  Cruppi's  work,  L'avocat 
Linguet,  Paris,  1895] . — There  is  proof,  on  the  other  hand,  of  the 
spread  of  the  ideas  abroad ; — in  the  district  of  which  Liege  is  the 
centre,  for  instance  [Cf.  Francotte,  La  propagande  encyclopedique, 
chap.  ii.  and  iii.  ;  and  Kiintziger,  Les  encyclopedistes  francais  en 
Belgique,  chap,  iv.] ; — in  Switzerland,  where  the  28  volumes  of  the 
original  work  were  thrice  reprinted ; — in  Italy,  where  the  work  was 
twice  reprinted,  once  at  Leghorn  and  once  at  Lucca ; — in  Germany 
and  Russia  by  the  intermediary  of  Grimm. — -How  this  propaganda 
necessarily  contributed  to  the  diffusion  of  French  ideas ; — and  indi- 
rectly to  the  formation  of  a  European  literature. 

THE  WORKS. 

The  only  works  of  importance  of  Grimm  and  Helvetius  are  those 
mentioned  above. 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  331 

between  appealing  in  everything  to  the  authority  of 
tradition  and  treating  it  persistently  as  an  obstacle  and 
an  enemy? 

How  many  other  differences  of  a  moral  or  philosophic 
and  even  of  a  political  order  would  it  be  possible,  would  it 
be  a  duty  to  point  out,  were  it  not  for  the  fear  that  to 
indicate  them  might  seem  somewhat  beyond  the  scope  of 
a  history  of  literature !  While  the  classic  spirit  had  in 
general  regarded  the  instincts  and  passions  with  proper 
suspicion,  the  encyclopedic  spirit,  on  the  contrary,  made 
insolent  and  cynical  profession  of  the  trust  it  placed  in 
them.  "A  man  becomes  stupid  wrhen  he  ceases  to  be 
passionate,"  writes  Helvetius  [Cf.  De  V Esprit,  3rd  dis- 
course, ch.  8].  In  Diderot's  eyes  the  vice  of  "  all  political, 
civil,  and  religious  institutions"  is  that  they  have  "in- 
stilled men  with  the  poison  of  a  morality  contrary  to 

In  the  case  of  Diderot,  on  the  contrary,  while  his  writings  for  the 
Encyclopedia  are  not  the  least  portion  of  his  work,  and  still  less  the 
portion  which  has  had  the  least  influence,  they  are  not  the  most 
considerable  and  in  particular  not  the  most  original  portion.  On  the 
other  hand,  almost  all  his  most  vaunted  writings  only  appeared  after 
his  death,  for  which  reason  we  did  not  think  it  proper  to  deal  with 
them  in  the  article  devoted  to  him.  It  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind 
that  Diderot's  contemporaries  were  acquainted  neither  with  the 
Religieuse,  the  Neveu  de  Rameau,  the  Supplement  au  voyage  de 
Bougainville,  the  Reve  de  d'Alembert,  nor  the  Salons ;  and  in  face 
of  this  fact  how  is  it  possible  to  discuss  the  effect  of  the  writings  in 
question  on  the  thought  of  the  period  ?  Since,  however,  this  is  still 
too  often  done,  we  shall  proceed  to  classify  Diderot's  works  in  the 
chronological  order  of  their  publication,  which  is  the  order  followed  in 
the  general  divisions  adopted  in  the  edition  of  Assezat  and  Maurice 
Tourneux. 

1.  BELLES-LETTRES  [Novels,  Plays,  Criticism  and  History] . — Les 
bijoux  indiscrets,  1748 ; — Le  Fils  naturel,  1757  ; — Le  Pere  defamille, 
preceded  by  a  Discourse  on  Dramatic  Poetry,  1758; — Essai  sur  la  vie 
de  Seneque  .  .  .  et  sur  les  regnes  de  Claude  et  de  Neron,  1778 ; — La 
Reliyieuse,  1796 ; — Jacques  lefataliste,  1796 ; — Ceci  n'est  pas  un  conte, 


332    MANUAL    OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

nature "  [Cf.  Supplement  au  voyage  de  Bougainville]. 
The  Cartesian  tenet  which  the  classic  spirit  had  corn- 
batted  most  energetically  had  been  the  dogma,  new  at 
the  time,  of  the  omnipotence  and  sovereignty  of  reason, 
of  that  reason  which  opines  "that  two  and  two  make 
four,"  which  denies,  when  it  does  not  take  a  pleasure 
in  scoffing  at,  whatever  is  outside  the  range  of  its 
deductions.  "  Be  silent,  foolish  reason ! "  Pascal  had 
said.  The  encyclopedic  spirit,  on  the  contrary,  regarded 
reason  as  the  sole  source  of  truth;  and  the  many  things 
in  the  world  that  appeared  to  it  to  be  "  irrational," 
proclaiming  the  antagonism  between  the  world  and 
reason,  it  decided  that  a  work  of  destruction  was  its  most 
immediate  concern.  Again,  the  classic  spirit  esteemed 
that  laws  are  a  reflection  of  morals,  or  in  other  words 
that  the  public  good  is  secured  by  the  combined  action  of 

1798; — Le  Neveu  de  Eameau,  1823; — Paradoxe  sur  le  comedien, 
1830. 

2.  ART  CRITICISM. — The  Salons,  of  which  the  dates  of  publication 
were  as  follows  :  Salon  of  1761,  1819  ; — Salon  of  1763,  1857  ; — Salon 
of  1765,  1795  ;— Salon  of  1767,  1798 ;— Salon  of  1769,  1819,  and  1857 ; 
—Salon  of  1771,  1857  ;— Salon  of  1775,  1857  ;— Salon  of  1781,  1857. 

3.  PHILOSOPHY. — Essai  sur  le  merite  et  la  vertu,  1745 ; — Pensees 
philoso2)Mques,  1746 ; — Lettre  sur  les  aveugles,  1749  ;—Lettre  sur  les 
sourds  et  muets,  1751 ; — Apologie  de  Vabbe  de  Prades,  1752  [Part  iii. 
only]  ; — Pensees  sur  V interpretation  de  la  nature,  1754  ; — Supplement 
au  voyage  de  Bougainville,  1796  ; — Le  reve  de  d'Alembert,  1830 ; — La 
Promenade  du  sceptique,  1830. 

4.  Plan  d'une  universite  pour  le  gouvernement  de  Russie,  1813-1814. 

5.  We  also  possess  sundry  scientific  works  by  Diderot,  the  value  of 
which  does  not  appear  to  be  very  great  ;• — -and  an  extremely  interesting 
but  unfortunately  incomplete  Correspondence,  the  most  curious  por- 
tions of  which'  are  the  letters  addressed  to  Falconet  and  the  corre- 
spondence with  Mile  Volland. 

The  best  and  most  complete  edition  of  Diderot's  works  is  that  of 
MM.  Assezat  and  Maurice  Tourneux,  20  vols.  in  8vo,  Paris,  1875- 
1877,  Gamier  freres. 


THE    DEFOEMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  333 

the  best  efforts  of  the  individual  members  of  society, 
whereas  the  encyclopedic  spirit  spread  abroad  the  idea 
that  "if  the  laws  are  good,  morals  will  be  good,  and  if 
the  laws  are  bad,  morals  will  be  bad."  It  is  thus  that 
Diderot  expresses  himself  in  another  passage  of  his 
Supplement  au  voyage  de  Bougainville.  Helvetius  emits 
a  like  opinion,  picked  up  doubtless  in  one  of  the  salons 
of  the  period  :  "  The  vices  of  a  people  always  lie  hidden 
deep  down  in  its  legislation ;  it  is  there  that  search 
must  be  made  with  a  view  to  extirpating  the  root  from 
which  a  people's  vices  spring  up "  [Cf.  De  I' Esprit, 
2nd  discourse,  ch.  15] .  And  since  this  irreconcilable 
opposition  or  even  contradiction  between  the  classic 
spirit  and  the  encyclopedic  spirit  is  thus  everywhere 
patent,  is  it  not  natural  enough  that  we  should  again 
meet  with  it  in  literature  ? 


The  principal  literary  works  of  d'Alembert  in  addition  to  the 
Discours  preliminaire  de  V Encyclopedic,  1750,  are ; — his  pamphlet 
La  destruction  des  Jesuites  en  France,  1765 ; — some  translations ; — 
a  few  short  writings, — and  the  valuable  series  of  his  Eloges  Acade- 
miques,  1779-1787. 


NINTH  PERIOD 
From  the  Encyclopedia  to  the  "  Genie  du  Christianisme  " 

1765-1800 

I.— Jean- Jacques  Rousseau  [Geneva,  1712;  f  1778,  Ermenon- 
ville] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Almost  all  the  works  of  Rousseau  himself,  and 
particularly  his  Confessions ;  his  Dialogues  (Rousseau,  juge  de  Jean- 
Jacques}  ;  the  Reveries  d'un  promeneur  solitaire ;  and  his  Correspond- 
ence ; — Mme  d'Epinay 's  Memoirs ; — Grimm,  Correspondance  litteraire ; 
— Freron,  Annee  litteraire,  1754-1776 ; — Diderot,  Essai  sur  les  regnes 
de  Claude  et  de  Neron ; — Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre,  Fragmens  and 
Essai  sur  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau. 


334    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

That  this  is  indeed  the  case  is  naively  admitted  by 
d'Alembert  in  the  preliminary  notice  he  wrote  for  the 
Encyclopedia.  "Abuse  is  made  of  the  best  things.  That 
philosophic  spirit,  so  much  in  the  fashion  at  the  present 
day,  which  demands  conviction  and  spurns  hypothesis, 
has  spread  even  to  literature  :  it  is  even  asserted  that 
its  influence  on  literature  is  harmful,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
hide  from  oneself  that  the  accusation  is  well-founded, 
Our  century  seems  desirous  of  applying  rigid  and  didactic 
methods  of  discussion  to  matters  of  sentiment."  But, 
given  the  definition  he  himself  offers  of  the  philosophic 
spirit, — defining  it,  that  is,  as  a  taste  for  "  analysis " 
and  "combination" — what  was  likely  to  become  even 
of  psychological  observation,  let  alone  of  poetry  or  of 
eloquence?  I  have  somewhere  asserted,  I  believe,  that 
a  wider  and  above  all  a  deeper  knowledge  of  man  is 

Musset-Pathay,  Histoire  de  la  vie  et  des  ouvrages  de  J.  J.  Rousseau, 
Paris,  1821 ; — G.  H.  Morin,  Essai  sur  la  vie  et  le  caractere  de  J.  J. 
Rousseau,  Paris,  1851 ; — Saint-Marc  Girardin,  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau, 
sa  vie  et  ses  ouvrages,  Paris,  1848,  1851,  1852,  1856  and  1875  ; — 
Streckeiseii-Moultou,  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau,  ses  amis  et  ses  ennemis, 
Paris,  1865  ; — John  Morley,  Rousseau,  London,  1873  ; — F.  Brocker- 
hoff,  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau,  sein  Leben  und  seine  WerJce,  Leipsic, 
1868-1874  ; — Jean-Jacques  Rousseau  juge  par  Ics  Genevois  d'aujour- 
d'hui,  Paris  and  Geneva,  1878 ; — H.  Beaudouin,  La  vie  et  les  ouvres 
de  J.  J.  Rousseau,  Paris,  1891. 

These  works,  which  are  of  a  somewhat  general  character,  should 
be  completed,  checked,  and  connected  by  the  more  special  investiga- 
tions of  M.  Eugene  Bitter ;  La  famille  de  J.  J.  Rousseau,  1878 ; 
Nouvelles  recherclies  sur  les  confessions,  1880 ;  La  jeunesse  de  J.  J. 
Rousseau,  1896 ; — of  M.  Albert  Jansen  :  Rousseau  als  Musilcer,  1884  ; 
Rousseau  als  Botaniker,  1885  ;  Documents  sur  J.  J.  Rousseau,  1885  ; — 
of  M.  Fritz  Berthoud,  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau  au  Val  de  Travers,  1881 ; 
Jean-Jacques  Rousseau  et  le  Pasteur  de  Montmollin,  1884 ; — of  M.  G. 
Maugras,  Voltaire  et  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau,  1886; — of  M.  P.  J. 
Mobius,  Rousseau's  Krankheits-geschichte,  Leipsic,  1889 ; — of  M. 
Chatelain,  La  Folie  de  Rousseau,  1890 ; — of  M.  F.  Mugnier,  Madame 


THE   DEFOKMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL          335 

displayed  in  the  memoirs  of  the  least  important  writers 
of  the  time  of  the  Fronde,  of  any  petty  woman  author 
of  the  seventeenth  century, — in  the  memoirs  of  Mine 
de  Motteville,  or  in  Mme  de  La  Fayette's  Histaire  de 
Madame  Henriette, — than  in  the  whole  Encyclopedia. 
The  reason  for  this  fact  is  now  perhaps  plain.  It  is 
that  the  Encyclopedists  did  not  concern  themselves 
with  the  study  either  of  man  in  general  or  of  men 
individually,  but  solely  with  the  study  of  the  "rela- 
tions between  men  "  ;  and  the  exclusive  study  of  the 
"  relations  between  men "  speedily  leads  to  the  losing 
sight  of  the  diversity  of  nature  by  which  men  are  dis- 
tinguished from  one  another.  Voltaire  and  d'Alembert 
are  examples  in  point.  The  former  declares  in  dis- 
paragement of  Eacine  that  his  Hippolytes  and  his 
Achilles  are  all  of  them  much  alike  [Cf.  Le  Temple  du 

de  Warens  et  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau,  1891 ; — of  H.  H.  de  Montel, 
Mme  de  Warens  et  le  pays  de  Vaud,  Lausanne,  1891. 

Consult  as  well :  Mme  de  Stael,  Lettres  sur  les  ouvrages  et  le 
caractere  de  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau,  1788; — Villemain,  Tableau 
de  la  litterature  francaise  au  XVIII'  siecle,  1828-1840 ; —  Lord 
Brougham,  Voltaire  and  Rousseau,  1845 ; — Louis  Blanc,  Revo- 
lution franqaise,  vol.  ii.,  1847  ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi, 
vols.  ii.,  iii.,  xv.,  1850-1861 ;  and  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  ix., 
1864; — Vinet,  Litterature  francaise  au  XVIII'  siecle,  1853; — 
Ernest  Bersot,  Etudes  sur  le  XVIII'  siecle,  1855  ; — Taine,  Ancien 
regime,  1875,  and  La  Revolution,  vol.  ii.,  1881 ; — J.  Texte,  Jean- 
Jacques  Rousseau  et  les  origines  de  cosmopolitisme  litteraire, 
Paris,  1895. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. 

A.  The  character  of  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau. — Of  the  absolute  con- 
formity between  the  writings  and  the  character  of  Rousseau ; — and 
that  his  Emile  and  even  his  Nouvelle  Helo'ise  are  in  reality  memoirs 
and  confessions  in  which  the  "  romance  "  element  is  of  the  slightest ; 
— Eousseau's  extraction ; — his  birth  and  education ; — his  adventurous 
youth ; — his  precocious,  varied  and  bitter  experience  of  life. — Rous- 
seau's psychology : — (1)  The  Plebeian ; — and  that  this  first  feature  of 


336    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

gout] ,  and  the  latter  is  astonished  that  Marivaux  "  was 
so  successful  a  dramatic  writer,  seeing  that  he  is  always 
giving  what  is  practically  the  same  comedy  under  dif- 
ferent titles"  [Cf.  Eloge  de  Marivaux].  In  their  eyes 
the  delicate,  penetrating  and  subtle  psychology  of  these 
authors  is  so  much  "  metaphysics,"  which  amounts  to 
saying  that  it  is  little  better  than  gibberish.  They  are 
blind  to  the  fine  distinctions  between  the  characters. 
When  they  do  not  perceive  a  distinction  they  deny  its 
existence  without  further  scruple,  while  if  they  happen 
to  detect  one  they  dismiss  it  as  mere  "  hair-splitting." 
Who  will  be  astonished,  under  these  circumstances,  that 
there  is  no  trace  of  psychology  in  Voltaire's  tragedies, 
in  Semiramis,  in  the  Orphelin,  or  in  Tancrede  ?  that 
there  is  still  less,  if  possible,  in  those  of  his  disciple 
Marmontel  ?  in  the  Incas  or  in  Belisaire  ?  and  generally 

his  character  accounts  for : — the  innate  simplicity  of  his  tastes  ; — his 
affectation  of  coarseness; — the  turbid  and  passionate  nature  of  his  style; 
— the  violence  of  his  hatreds ; — the  nature  of  his  pride,  which  is  the 
pride  of  a  self-taught  or  self-made  man ; — his  contempt  for  cultured 
wit,  which  he  considers  an  aristocratic  quality ;  —  his  incorrigible 
optimism ; — and  finally  the  depth  of  some  of  his  views. — (2)  His 
sensitiveness  ; — and  that  this  second  feature  of  his  character  accounts 
for  : — the  ease  with  which  the  slightest  pleasure  or  the  slightest  pain 
makes  an  impression  on  him  ; — the  quickness  with  which  he  gives 
himself  over  entirely  to  the  impression  of  the  moment ; — the  per- 
petual vibration  of  his  style  ; — his  habitual  inability  to  control  his 
ideas ; — the  contradictions  in  which  his  work  abounds ; — and  the  early 
weakness  and  final  atrophy  of  his  will. — (3)  The  Madman,  that  is  to 
say  "  the  neurasthenic  and  the  lipamaniac  "  [Cf.  Mobius,  op.  cit.~\  ; — 
and  that  this  last  characteristic  accounts  for : — the  incoherency  of  his 
conduct ; — the  ease  with  which  he  took  offence  even  at  kindness 
shown  him ; — his  suspicion  of  everybody ; — the  suddenness  of  his 
quarrels  [Cf.  Eug.  Ritter,  Nouvelles  Beclierclies]  ; — his  naive  egoism  ; 
— and  the  eccentricities  of  his  later  years. — Importance  of  this  last 
feature ; — if  it  was  impossible  that  it  should  not  manifest  itself  in 
his  works  in  the  shape  of  a  disposition  to  literary  morbidness ; — and 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  337 

that  the  entire  literature  of  the  Encyclopedists,  on  account 
of  its  philosophic  trend,  should  be  wanting  in  nothing  so 
much  as  in  reality,  substance,  and  life '? 

Like  exception  must  be  taken  to  the  language  of  the 
Encyclopedists.  Everybody  is  acquainted  with  Voltaire's 
Commentary  on  Corneille,  and  is  aware  of  the  timidity  of 
taste  to  which  the  work  bears  instructive  and  melancholy 
testimony  !  In  the  opinion  of  d'Alembert,  "  the  prefaces 
of  Racine  are  weakly  written,"  and  those  of  Corneille  are 
as  "  excellent  as  regards  the  matter  as  they  are  defective 
in  respect  to  the  style  "  [Melanges  litteraires,  art.  Elocu- 
tion]. Condorcet,  too,  will  complain  a  few  years  later 
"  of  finding  in  the  Provinciates  too  many  familiar  and 
proverbial  expressions,  which  appear  at  present  to  be 
deficient  in  elevation"  [Cf.  Eloge  de  Pascal].  In  reality, 
in  spite  of  their  professed  admiration  for  "the  models," 

if  it  thus  comes  about  that  what  was  perhaps,  in  more  than  one 
respect,  mere  corruption ; — has  been  taken  for  an  innovation  in 
literature  and  art. 

B.  The  Early  Career  of  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau. — The  novels  of 
La  Calprenede  and  Plutarch's  Lives  are  his  earliest  reading. — His 
departure  for  Geneva  and  his  life  of  adventure. — The  experience  he 
acquires  in  the  servants'  hall  and  while  tramping  the  roads ; — his 
liaison  with  Mme  de  Warens  ; — his  life  at  Charmettes,  1738-1741 ; — 
and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  novel  Flaubert  has  entitled  L' education 
sentimentale. — Rousseau  at  Lyons. — His  first  stay  in  Paris,  1741  : — 
his  system  of  musical  notation ;- — the  beginning  of  his  intercourse 
with  Grimm  and  Diderot. — His  stay  in  Venice,  1743-1744  [Cf.  P. 
Faugere  in  the  Correspondant  for  June  10  and  25,  1888]  ; — and  his 
quarrel  with  his  patron,  M.  de  Montaigu. — His  return  to  Paris. — He 
remodels  the  Princesse  de  Navarre  of  Voltaire  [Les  Fetes  de  Bamire], 
with  whom  he  is  brought  into  contact  in  consequence,  1745. — He 
becomes  secretary  to  Mine  Dupin,  1746  [Cf.  Le  Portefeuille  de  Mme 
Dupin,  edited  by  M.  de  Villeneuve-Guibert,  Paris,  1884]  ; — the  repre- 
sentation of  the  Muses  galantes,  1747. — He  makes  the  acquaintance 
of  Mme  d'Epinay  [Cf.  Mme  d'Epinay's  Memoirs,  L.  Perey  and 
G.  Maugras'  edition,  Paris,  1882 ; — and  Edmond  Scherer,  Madame 

23 


338    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OP   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

they  are  convinced  at  bottom  that  the  progress  made 
in  the  domain  of  thought  owing  to  the  action  of  the 
philosophic  spirit  has  extended  insensibly  to  the  art  of 
writing.  And  the  fact  is  that  the  straightforward  and 
somewhat  rugged  but  rich,  unconstrained,  familiar  and 
yet  eloquent  language  of  the  past  has  undergone  a 
change  with  a  view  to  the  necessities  of  their  propa- 
ganda. There  has  been  introduced,  or  rather  they 
have  introduced,  not  indeed  more  order  than  existed  in 
the  old  language,  but  a  different,  an  inverse  order,  an 
order  too  that  is  very  distinct  from  that  which  prevailed 
at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  a  genuinely  "  ency- 
clopedic "  order,  algebraic  instead  of  merely  logical. 
Words  in  their  eyes  have  become  mere  conventional, 
artificial,  and  arbitrary  signs;  sentences  mere  "multi- 
nomials" to  be  "ordered"  in  accordance  with  certain 


d'Epinay,  in  his  Etudes,  1866]  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the 
indulgence  shown  by  the  biographers  of  Mine  d'Epinay. — Rousseau 
contributes  to  the  Encyclopedia. — The  Dijon  discourse,  1749  ; — and 
the  conditions  under  which  Rousseau  wrote  it  [Cf.  Rousseau's  version 
in  his  Confessions  ;  Diderot's  in  his  Essai  sur  les  regnes  de  Claude 
et  de  Neron  ;  and  those  of  Morellet  and  Marmontel  in  their  Memoirs] . 
— Prodigious  success  of  the  Discourse,  1751 ; — and  that  this  success 
must  be  attributed  to  a  warmth  of  eloquence  to  which  the  public  had 
been  unaccustomed  for  half  a  century ; — to  the  unexpected  assist- 
ance furnished  the  enemies  of  the  Encyclopedists  by  the  Discourse  ; — 
and  to  the  conformity  between  its  tendencies  and  the  spirit  of  reaction 
against  the  artificial  character  of  the  civilisation  of  the  century,  which 
was  beginning  to  show  itself ; — the  preface  to  Narcisse,  1752 ; — the 
Devin  du  village,  1752 ; — the  article  on  Political  Economy  for  the 
Encyclopedia,  1755  ; — the  Discours  sur  Vorigine  et  les  fondements 
de  rinegalite,  1755. — Rousseau's  journey  to  Geneva,  and  his  recon- 
version to  Protestantism. — -His  return  to  Paris. — He  takes  up  his 
residence  at  the  Ermitage,  1756. — The  Lettre  sur  la  Providence, 
1756. — Rousseau  and  Mme  d'Houdetot,  1756-1758. — Rousseau's  early 
dissensions  with  Grimm  and  Diderot. — The  article  on  Geneva  in  the 
Encyclopedia,  1757. — Rousseau  replies  to  it  by  his  Lettre  sur  les 


THE   DEFORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  339 

rules  ;  while  they  regard  style  as  merely  the  equation  of 
pure  thought.  Indeed,  in  their  estimation  progress  con- 
sisted in  the  impoverishing  of  the  vocabulary,  in  imposing 
a  more  rigorous  syntax,  in  the  abuse  of  "  general  terms," 
and  in  the  subordination  of  individual  originality  to  the 
exigences  of  the  public.  Condorcet  has  admitted  as  much 
in  so  many  words  :  "  The  necessity  has  been  felt  that  a 
literary  style  should  be  more  elevated  and  more  sustained 
than  the  language  of  conversation.  .  .  .  Conversation 
itself  has  adopted  a  nobler  tone  .  .  .  and  it  may  be  that 
we  owe  to  conversation  the  advantage  of  possessing  at  this 
period  of  our  literature, — he  writes  in  1776, — a  greater 
number  of  men  of  letters  who  write  with  charm  and  ele- 
gance "  [Cf.  Eloge  de  Pascal]. 

The  more  attentively  these  facts  are  considered,  the 
more   difficult   it   becomes   to   regard   the    formation   or 

spectacles,  1758. — Marmontel's  rejoinder. — Rousseau's  definite  rupture 
with  the  philosophic  party. — His  new  liaisons  with  the  Marechale  de 
Luxembourg,  the  Comtesse  de  Boufflers,  the  Marquise  de  Crequi  and 
Mine  de  Verdelin. — He  takes  up  his  residence  at  Montmorency,  1758. 
C.  Rousseau's  Chief  Works. — (1)  La  Nouvelle  Helo'ise,  1761  [Cf. 
Lettres  inedites  de  Rousseau  a  Marc-Michel  Rey,  Paris,  1858] . — The 
real  sources  of  the  novel ; — the  Swiss  background  [Cf .  Jean-Jacques 
Rousseau  et  le  pays  romand]  ; — Rousseau's  passion  for  Mme 
d'Houdetot  [Cf.  Lucien  Brunei,  La  Nouvelle  Helo'ise  et  Mme 
d'Houdetot,  Paris,  1888] . — His  imitation  of  Clarissa  Harlowe  ; — 
and  of  Marivaux'  novels. — The  moral  purpose  of  the  book  ; — and 
that,  to  judge  it  equitably,  it  is  only  necessary  to  compare  it  with  the 
salacious  productions  of  the  younger  Crebillon. — The  novelty  of  the 
surroundings  in  which  the  scene  of  the  book  is  laid ; — and  that  its 
primary  merit  at  the  time  of  its  issue  was  that  it  was  not  a  "  Parisian 
novel "  [Cf.  the  novels  of  Crebillon,  Duclos,  and  Marivaux] . — The 
personages  of  the  book  belong  not  only  to  the  middle  classes,  but  to 
the  provinces ; — though  then:  adventures  are  not  the  less  tragic  on 
that  account. — The  incidents  are  of  a  psychological  order  instead  of 
being  incidents  in  the  lives  of  the  personages  [Cf.  the  novels  of  Prevost 
and  Le  Sage] . — Further,  the  novel  which  had  hitherto  been  looked 


340    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

development  of  the  encyclopedic  spirit  as  the  natural 
outcome  of  the  classic  spirit.  One  is  tempted  rather  to 
regard  them  as  contrary  to  each  other.  If  it  were  under 
the  influence  of  any  general  idea  that  the  Encyclopedists 
gathered  round  d'Alembert  and  Diderot  in  the  room  behind 
Lebreton's  bookshop  or  in  the  apartment  of  the  Rue 
Taranne,  if  their  association  were  prompted  by  some  defi- 
nite design,  their  purpose  was  to  change  the  trend  of  the 
French  genius ;  and  on  the  whole  their  efforts  were  crowned 
with  success.  In  art  as  in  philosophy,  in  literature  as 
in  morals,  their  attitude  was  just  the  contrary  of  that 
of  Corneille,  Racine,  Pascal,  Bossuet,  La  Bruyere,  and 
Boileau.  Their  wish  was  to  overthrow  the  ideal  that  had 
formerly  obtained ;  and  this  being  the  case,  of  what  im- 
portance are  some  dozens  of  tragedies  whose  mediocre 
authors  imagined  that  their  imitations  of  Andromaque 

upon  as  an  inferior  branch  of  literature, — is  regarded  by  the  author  of 
the  Nouvelle  Helo'ise  as  a  vehicle  of  thought  on  a  par  with  tragedy 
itself ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  abuse  of  digressions  in  the 
Nouvelle  Helo'ise. — Finally  nature  occupies  less  space  in  the  work 
than  man ; — but  more  space  than  had  customarily  been  allotted  it  in 
works  of  art ;— and  if  the  style  of  the  book  is  not  absolutely  new,  it 
is  widely  different  from  the  style  of  the  period  ; — owing  to  the  warmth 
and  movement  that  animate  it ; — owing  to  the  imprint  it  bears  of  the 
personality  of  the  writer ; — and  finally  owing  to  its  tone,  which  is  not 
purely  oratorical,  but  lyric  as  well. — Divided  opinion  of  the  critics  on 
the  Nouvelle  Helo'ise  [Cf.  Voltaire,  Lettres  sur  la  Nouvelle  Helo'ise, 
Beuchot's  edition,  vol.  xl. ;  Freron,  Annee  litteraire,  1761,  vol.  ii. ; 
Grimm,  Correspondance  litteraire,  February,  1761]  ; — and  success 
of  the  novel  among  the  general  public  [Cf.  Rousseau,  Confessions, 
bk.  xi.] . 

(2)  The  Contrat  social,  1762  [Cf.  Lettres  inedites  cited  above ;  J. 
Hornung,  Les  idees  politiques  de  Rousseau,  1878 ;  and  Andre  Lich- 
tenberger,  Le  socialisme  au  XVIIP  siecle,  1895]  ; — and  that  to  appre- 
ciate the  work  properly  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Rousseau  was 
a  plebeian ; — a  Protestant, — who  had  been  brought  up  to  believe  in 
the  sovereignty  of  the  people ; — and  finally  a  native  of  G  eneva. — To 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  341 

were  improvements  on  the  original  ?  It  only  remains  to 
add  that  the  influence  of  the  Encyclopedists  was  at  once 
aided  and  thwarted  by  another  influence  of  which  it  is  an 
extremely  delicate  task  to  define  the  nature  :  I  refer  to 
the  influence  of  Rousseau ;  and  it  is  doubtful  whether 
there  had  been  a  more  considerable  or  more  revolutionary 
influence  since  that  exerted  by  Pascal. 


Ill 


Stultos  facit  fortuna  quos  vult  perdere  !  and  in  truth 
it  would  be  hard  to  explain  the  progress,  the  vogue 
and,  following  a  moment  of  uncertainty  at  the  out- 

what  extent  Rousseau's  conception  of  the  Social  Contract  was 
influenced  by  the  constitution  of  Geneva ; — and  how  by  taking  an 
ideal  view  of  this  constitution, — it  appeared  to  him  as  even  more 
tyrannical  than  it  actually  was. — That  the  citizen  of  Geneva  in  the 
eighteenth  century  was  not  to  be  envied. — Rousseau's  unconscious 
Calvinism  [Cf.  Jurieu,  Lettres pastorales ;  and  Bossuet,  Avertissements 
aux  Protestants']  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  Calvin's  fundamental 
error  in  the  domain  of  politics  ; — which  consists  in  his  having  made  a 
confusion  between  the  rights'of  religion  and  those  of  the  government ; 
— and  in  his  having  mixed  up  the  object  of  government  with  that  of 
morality. — The  traces  of  Rousseau's  plebeianism  in  the  Contrat  social; 
— and  that  they  are  seen  more  especially  in  his  incapacity  to  understand 
the  social  function  of  inequality. — Rousseau's  three  dogmas ; — universal 
equality ; — the  sovereignty  of  the  people ; — the  omnipotence  of  the 
State. — Individualism  and  Socialism; — and  how  it  has  come  about 
that  while  some  people  regard  Rousseau  as  a  forefather  of  "  revolu- 
tionary socialism," — others  praise  him  "  for  having  made  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  individual  the  firm  basis  "  of  his  philosophy  [Cf.  as  regards 
the  numerous  contradictions  on  this  head,  Lichtenberger's  book  referred 
to  above,  pp.  129  and  130] . — The  explanation  of  these  conflicting 
views  lies  first  of  all  in  the  fact  that  it  has  been  overlooked  that  the 
essential  characteristics  of  his  dialectics, — or  of  his  rhetoric, — is  the 


342    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

set,  the  rapid  spread  of  the  encyclopedic  doctrine, 
were  we  to  overlook  how  this  result  was  furthered  to 
the  most  regrettably  imprudent  or  the  most  signally 
foolish  extent  by  all  those  whose  interests  the  doctrine 
threatened :  by  the  very  adversaries  of  the  Encyclo- 
pedia, by  the  Government,  and  in  particular  by  the 
salons, 

Unmeasured  praise  has  been  bestowed  on  the  famous 
and  vaunted  salons  of  the  century  with  which  we  are 
dealing.  While  it  has  become  the  custom  to  expend 
nothing  but  raillery  on  the  ruelles  of  the  preceding 
century,  and  to  adopt,  in  referring  to  them,  the  tone  of 
Moliere  in  his  Precieuses  ridicules  or  in  his  Femmes 
savantes,  we  are  all  indulgence  and  complaisancy  even  at 
the  present  day  for  the  charmers  who,  like  Mme  de  Tencin 
or  Mme  d'Epinay,  had  the  art  to  combine  looseness  of 

giving  eloquent  expression  to  aggressive  paradoxes ; — whose  conse- 
quences he  at  once  proceeds  to  attenuate  ; — hi  the  further  fact  that  his 
socialism  is  only  a  means  to  an  end  which  is  individualism ; — and  we 
find  the  same  contradiction  exists  for  the  same  reason  in  the  socialism 
of  the  present  day  ; — when  Anarchists  seemingly  make  common  cause 
with  Collectivists ; — although  their  respective  ideals  are  utterly  con- 
tradictory ; — and  finally  in  the  fact  that  Rousseau  does  not  boggle  at 
contradicting  himself  ; — if  indeed  it  can  be  said  that  he  even  perceives 
his  self-contradictions. 

(3)  Emile,  1762  [Cf.  Letlres  inedites,  cited  above  ;  Jean-Jacques 
Rousseau,  ses  amis  et  ses  ennemis,  vol.  ii.  ;  and  Gabriel  Compayre, 
Histoire  des  theories  de  V education  en  France,  1885] . — Wide-spread 
interest  taken  in  educational  matters  towards  1760. — That  while  it  is 
not  easy  to  show  the  Contrat  social  to  be  the  development  of  a  single 
master  principle,  a  like  task  is  still  more  difficult  in  i-espect  to  Emile ; 
— but  Emile  being  the  treatment  from  an  ideal  point  of  view  of 
Rousseau's  experiences  as  a  tutor,— Rousseau's  personality  suffices  to 
give  the  book  an  appearance  of  unity. — Of  the  imitation  of  Locke  in 
Emile  [Cf.  De  VEducation  des  enfants,  Paris,  1721] . — The  main 
defect  of  Emile  ; — and  that  having  formed  the  design  of  writing  a 
treatise  on  education, — it  is  a  pity  that  the  author  should  have  started 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  343 

morals  with  philosophic  pedantry.  Indeed,  we  do  not 
esteem  quite  so  highly  Mme  du  Deffand,  who  was  no  friend 
of  the  Encyclopedists,  who  even  ventured  to  jest  at  their 
expense  in  her  correspondence,  or  the  Marechale  de 
Luxembourg,  who  throughout  kept  them  at  a  distance 
and  who,  iri  addition  to  her  other  delinquencies,  chose 
to  protect  Rousseau.  On  the  other  hand,  what  an 
atmosphere  of  sympathy,  not  to  say  what  a  halo  of 
respect,  surrounds  the  figures  of  Mile  de  Lespinasse, 
of  passionate  memory,  and  Mme  Geoffrin,  that  queen 
among  women  of  her  rank !  However,  since  we  have 
not  to  thank  them  for  food  and  lodging,  since  we  do 
not  owe  them  such  a  debt  of  gratitude  as  did  d'Alem- 
bert  and  Marmontel,  let  us  venture  to  say  that  the 
role  they  played — it  being  necessary  to  admit  that  they 
did  play  a  role — was  of  disastrous  effect.  It  was  in  the 

by  imagining  a  child  without  father  or  mother ; — a  rich  child ; — a 
child  without  hereditary  tendencies,  temperament,  or  character, — and 
on  the  other  hand  a  tutor  who  subordinates  his  whole  life  to  that  of 
the  child  in  question  ; — two  suppositions  that  run  equally  counter  to 
natural  and  social  reality. — That  apart  from  this  reservation,  the  im- 
portance of  which  cannot  be  exaggerated, — there  are  three  chief  reasons 
for  the  success  of  Emile  : — the  high  key  in  which  the  moral  sentiment 
is  pitched  in  the  book  [Cf.  in  particular  the  Profession  de  foi  du 
Vicaire  Savoyard]  ; — its  ardent  spiritualism,  which  afforded  a  welcome 
contrast  to  the  grovelling  materialism  of  the  Encyclopedia ; — and  the 
entire  confidence  it  displays  in  the  possibility  of  moral  progress  result- 
ing from  education. — Comparison  in  this  respect  between  Emile  and 
Helvetius'  work  De  I' Esprit ; — and  as  to  certain  ideas  common  to 
Helvetius  and  Rousseau. — Emile,  moreover,  is  Rousseau's  literary 
masterpiece ; — it  is  less  stilted  than  the  Nouvelle  Helo'ise ; — more 
supple  and  more  varied  than  the  Contrat  social ; — and  though  oratori- 
cal, less  declamatory  than  the  Discours  of  1751  and  1755. — Of  some  of 
the  secondary  ideas  in  Emile ; — the  suckling  of  children  by  their  mothers 
themselves  ; — the  importance  of  physical  education  ; — the  usefulness 
of  a  manual  calling ;  —the  advantages  of  what  have  since  been  termed 
"  object  lessons  "  ; — and  that  these  secondary  ideas  did  not  contribute 


344    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

"talent  factories"  they  severally  kept  that  was  forged 
the  reputation  of  so  many  literary  mediocrities  of  the 
stamp  of  Marmontel,  Morellet,  Thomas,  and  M.  Suard. 
They  induced  Europe  and  the  world  to  believe  that  there 
were  no  men  of  note  in  France  beyond  the  few  who 
were  to  be  met  with  at  their  table  or  in  their  salmi. 
They  are  responsible  for  the  practice  of  treating  serious 
questions  wittily — a  manifest  absurdity,  since  how  is  it 
possible  to  treat  wittily  such  questions  as  poverty,  or  the 
future  of  science  ? — and  trivial  matters  seriously.  Their 
flatteries  encouraged  men  of  letters  to  vie  with  one 
another  in  paradox,  while  they  were  destructive  of 
genuine  originality.  "To  energy  they  objected:  'You 
display  an  exaggerated  interest  in  persons  and  things  ' ; — 
to  depth  :  '  You  make  too  great  a  demand  on  our  time  ' ; — 
to  sensibility  :  '  You  are  too  exclusive ' ; — and  finally  to 

less  to  the  success  of  the  book, — than  the  general  ideas  which  consti- 
tute its  framework, — or  the  persecution  of  which  it  was  to  be  the 
object. 

D.  Rousseau's  last  years. — Seizure,  condemnation,  and  burning  of 
Emile  in  Paris  (June  9th)  ; — in  Geneva  (June  19th)  ; — and  in  Holland 
(June  23rd).— Eousseau  obliged  to  leave  France, — and  expelled  from 
the  territory  of  the  Republic  of  Berne, — takes  up  his  residence  in  the 
Val  de  Travers, — where  he  stays  from  1762  to  1765. — He  writes  there 
his  Lettre  a  Varcheveque  de  Paris,  1763  ; — his  Prajet  de  constitution 
pour  la  Corse  [published  for  the  first  time  in  1861]  ; — and  his  Lettres 
de  la  Montagne,  1764. — He  is  the  object  of  fresh  persecution  on  account 
of  this  last  work. — Obliged  in  succession  to  quit  the  Val  de  Travers 
[September,  1765]  ; — the  He  de  Saint-Pierre  [October,  1765]  ; — and 
Switzerland ;— he  spends  a  few  days  in  Paris  ; — and  decides  to  take  up 
his  residence  in  England,  1766. — His  sojourn  at  Wootton,  1766-1767  ; 
— his  quarrel  with  Hume,  and  the  slight  interest  that  attaches  to  all 
these  incidents. — H^s  stays  at  Fleury ; — at  Trye  ; — at  Grenoble ; — at 
Monquin ; — and  his  return  to  Paris,  1770. — His  relations  with  Dusaulx, 
Rulhiere  and  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre. — He  gives  readings  of  his 
Confessions ; — but  is  obliged  to  stop  them  owing  to  denunciations  on 
the  part  of  his  former  friends ;— and  in  particular  of  Mme  d'Epinay. — 


THE    DEFORMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  345 

intelligence:  'You  are  too  individual  a  distinction.'' 
Such,  at  least,  is  the  judgment  that  has  been  passed  on 
them  by  a  woman  [Cf.  Mme  de  Stae'l,  De  VAllemagne, 
part  i.,  chap,  xi.j .  But  it  is  now  understandable  that 
they  should  have  been  the  precious  auxiliaries  of  the 
Encyclopedists.  They  may  not  have  had  a  clearer  insight 
than  had  Diderot  himself  into  his  confused  genius,  and, 
above  all,  they  may  not  have  gauged  the  signification  of 
the  doctrine  they  elected  to  champion,  but  they  made 
Diderot  and  his  doctrine  the  fashion,  and  procured  them 
the  recognition  of  society.  Thanks  to  them,  it  was  con- 
sidered "good  form"  to  be  a  "philosopher"  [Cf.  Taine, 
Ancien  regime,  book  iv.].  And,  we  repeat,  it  is  natural, 
and  even  to  their  credit  that  the  "philosophers"  should 
have  repaid  them  with  gratitude.  On  the  other  hand, 
from  our  point  of  view  the  case  is  different,  and  if,  for  the 

It  is  at  this  period  that  he  becomes  afflicted  with  the  mania  of  perse- 
cution from  which  he  suffers  almost  without  intermission  for  the  rest 
of  his  life. — He  writes  his  Considerations  sur  le  gouvernement  de 
Pologne,  1772 ; — Dialogues  de  Rousseau  juge  de  Jean-Jacques,  1772— 
1776 ; — and  Reveries  d"un  promeneur  solitaire,  1777. — Singular  cha- 
racter of  these  last  two  works  ; — and  novel  character  of  the  second. — 
Rousseau  goes  to  reside  at  Ermenonville  with  the  Marquis  de  Girar- 
din ; — his  death,  July  2,  1778. — Did  Rousseau  commit  suicide  ? — the 
improbability  of  this  supposition ; — which  has  nevertheless  given  rise 
to  an  entire  literature. 

E.  Rousseau's  influence  ; — and  that  during  his  lifetime  his  notoriety 
was  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  influence  he  exerted ; — as  if  the 
passionate  interest  aroused  by  his  personality ; — the  strangeness  of 
his  fortunes ; — and  the  real  charm  he  knew  how  to  display  when  in 
the  humour; — had  diverted  attention  from,  or  masked  the  importance 
of  his  fundamental  ideas. — A  further  reason  is  that  the  public  did  not 
get  to  know  him  completely  until  after  the  publication  of  his 
Confessions ; — the  issue  of  which  did  not  begin  until  after  his  death  ; 
— while  their  unique  character  shed  an  unexpected  light  on  his 
entire  work. — Are  the  Confessions  the  product  of  a  healthy  intelli- 
gence ? — That  to  justify  doubts  on  this  score  it  suffices  to  compare 


346    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

reasons  which  have  been  set  forth,  the  intrinsic  tendency 
of  the  encyclopedic  spirit  was  to  make  for  the  disorgani- 
sation of  literature,  what  grounds  have  we  to  congratulate 
these  women  on  their  having  chosen  to  sound  the  praises 
of  the  Encyclopedia  ? 

The  complicity  of  the  government  of  Louis  XV., 
though  less  apparent,  and  in  particular  less  loudly  pro- 
claimed than  that  of  the  salons,  was  not  less  real.  The 
fact  has  been  insufficiently  insisted  on,  important  though 
it  is  to  take  it  into  account.  It  was  under  the  auspices 
of  Chancellor  d'Aguesseau,  and  of  d'Argenson,  Minister 
of  War,  that  the  Encyclopedia  was  launched.  When 
Diderot  was  imprisoned  at  Vincennes  at  the  entreaty  of 
the  scientist  Reaumur,  whose  mistress  he  had  libelled, 
it  was  the  booksellers  who,  in  their  capacity  of  pub- 
lishers of  the  Encyclopedia,  procured  his  liberation  in 

them  with  certain  portions  of  Montaigne's  Essays ; — and  in  the 
second  place  to  consider  them  in  connection  with  the  Dialogues ; — 
a  work  whose  every  page  bears  striking  testimony  to  the  mental 
disease  of  the  writer ; — and  to  compare  them  as  well  with  the  con- 
fessions of  Restif  de  la  Bretonne,  who  has  rightly  been  called 
"the  Rousseau  of  the  gutter." — In  any  case,  however,  few  books 
have  produced  a  more  considerable  effect ; — Rousseau's  Confessions 
seeming  indeed  to  have  given  his  ideas  the  prestige  of  a  sort  of 
revelation. — Of  Rousseau's  influence  on  the  French  Revolution  [Cf. 
the  works  of  Maximilien  Robespierre,  Paris,  1840 ;  Fichte's  Con- 
siderations sur  la  Revolution  francaise  ;  Carlyle's  Revolution  ;  and 
Taine,  Origines,  etc.,  vols.  i.  and  iii.] . — Rousseau's  infhience  in  the 
domain  of  philosophy :  on  Kant  [Cf.  Diettrich,  Kant  et  Rousseau, 
1878 ;  and  D.  Nolen,  Les  Maitres  de  Kant,  in  the  Revue  j)hiloso- 
phique]  ; — and  on  Fichte. — His  influence  on  Jacobi  and  Schleier- 
macher. — Rousseau's  literary  influence  [Cf.  H.  Hettner,  Literatur- 
geschichte  des  XVIII6  Jahrhunderts,  vol.  i. ;  Marc  Monnier,  Jean- 
Jacques  Rousseau  jug e  par  les  Genevois;  and  J.  Texte,  Jean-Jacques 
Rousseau  et  le  cosmopolitesme  litteraire]  ; — on  Goethe  ; — and,  in  this 
connection,  a  comparison  between  Werther  and  the  Nouvelle  Helo'ise 
[Cf.  Erich  Schmidt,  Rousseau,  Richardson  et  Goethe]  ; — on  Schiller ; — 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  347 

order  that  he  might  devote  himself  to  their  enterprise. 
M.  de  Malesherbes,  the  official  entrusted  with  the  control 
of  the  booksellers,  allowed  the  issue  of  the  Encyclopedia 
to  continue,  in  spite  of  the  decree  of  the  king's  council 
in  1753  suspending  its  publication.  In  1758,  after  the 
definite  condemnation  of  the  work,  he  showed  himself 
more  complaisant  still,  for  "he  consented  to  ensure  the 
safety  of  Diderot's  manuscripts,  by  preserving  them  in 
his  own  study  "  [Cf.  Mme  de  Vandeul,  Memoires  sur  la 
vie  de  son  pere].  The  same  condemnation  did  not  pre- 
vent d'Alembert's  name  remaining  on  the  list  of  the 
"royal  censors,"  while  it  was  doubtless  for  similar 
reasons  that,  when  Freron  attacked  the  Encyclopedists  in 
his  Annee  litteraire,  it  was  the  Annee  litteraire  that  was 
suspended  and  Freron  who  was  sent  to  the  Bastille.  Far 
from  being  injured,  indeed,  by  the  suppression  of  its 

on  Byron,  etc. — His  influence  in  France,  and  that, — as  will  be  seen  in 
the  history  of  Romanticism, — its  most  characteristic  feature  is  that  it 
paved  the  way  for  the  emancipation  of  the  personality  of  the  individual. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  works  of  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau  may  be 
divided  into  three  principal  groups,  clearly  determined  by  the 
corresponding  periods  of  his  life.  It  is  of  slight  importance  that  the 
precise  dates  of  publication  of  the  works  in  each  group  are  not  exactly 
the  same  as  the  dates  at  which  they  were  composed. 

1734-1749. — Narcisse,  1734; — Le  verger  des  Charmettes  (in  verse), 
1739 ; — Dissertation  sur  la  mu^ique  moderne  and  Projet  concernant 
de  nouveaux  signes  pour  la  notation  musicale,  1742 ; — Les  Muses 
galantes  (opera)  1743 ; — L'allee  de  Silvie  (inverse),  1747  ; — L 'Engage- 
ment temeraire  (comedy  in  verse),  1747. 

1751-1765. — Discours  sur  les  sciences  et  les  arts,  1751 ; — sundry 
writings  dealing  with  the  refutations  of  this  work,  1751-1752; — 
Lettre  sur  la  musique  francaise,  1753; — Discours  sur  V Economic 
politique,  1755 ; — Discours  sur  Vorigine  et  les  fondements  de  I'ine- 
galite,  1755  ; — Lettre  sur  les  spectacles,  1758 ; — La  Nouvelle  Heloise, 
1760;— Le  Contrat  social,  Yl&l;—Emile,  1762;— Lettre  a  Varclie- 
vequ*  de  Paris,  1763 ; — Letlres  de  la  Montagnc,  1764 ; — Lettres  sur  la 
legislation  de  la  Corse,  addressed  to  M.  Buttafuoco,  1765. 


348    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY    OF    FRENCH    LITERATURE 

privilege,  the  Encyclopedia  profited  by  the  action  of  the 
authorities,  whose  sole  result  was  to  make  the  work 
independent  of  the  approval  of  the  censor.  When  M. 
de  Malesherbes  resigned  his  post  of  supervisor  of  the 
booksellers,  Mme  de  Pompadour  took  the  Encyclopedia 
under  her  protection  at  the  instigation  of  Quesnay,  her 
doctor,  and  when  the  Jesuits  were  expelled  in  1762  she 
shared  the  satisfaction  of  the  philosophers.  After  her 
death  in  1764  she  must  have  had  a  successor  in  the  role 
of  protectress,  since  the  last  ten  volumes  of  the  Ency- 
clopedia were  freely  circulated  in  Paris. 

At  the  same  time  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  enemies 
of  the  Encyclopedia,  owing  to  their  blundering  attacks,  the 
weakness  of  their  polemics,  and  their  utter  lack  of  talent, 
were  largely  responsible  for  the  admiring  attitude  of  the 
salons,  and  what  may  almost  be  described  as  the  co-opera- 

1765-1805. — Dictionnaire  de  musique,  1767  ; — Considerations  sur 
le  gouvernement  de  Pologne,  1772  ;— the  Confessions  (the  six  first 
books)  and  the  Reveries  d'unpromeneur  solitaire,  1782  ; — Confessions 
(the  last  six  books)  and  the  Dialogues,  1790 ; — Lettres  sur  la  Botanique, 
1805. 

To  the  above  should  be  added  a  voluminous  correspondence,  only 
about  a  half  of  which  is  contained  in  the  five  or  six  volumes  devoted 
to  the  Correspondance  in  the  majority  of  editions  ; — the  volume  of 
unpublished  works  issued  by  Streckeisen-Moultou,  Paris,  1861 ; — and 
numerous  fragments  scattered  through  various  publications. 

The  Neufchatel  library  possesses  an  important  collection  (Nos. 
7,829  to  7,941)  of  Rousseau  manuscripts,  or  manuscripts  left  behind 
by  Rousseau,  from  which  there  would  doubtless  be  a  certain  amount 
of  information  to  be  derived. 

It  follows  from  what  has  just  been  said, — and  although  the  editions 
of  the  works  are  numerous,  the  best  being  Petitain's  edition,  22  vols., 
Paris,  1819-1822;  and  Musset-Pathay's  edition,  23  vols.,  Paris,  1823- 
1826, — that  there  is  no  edition  of  Rousseau  that  can  be  regarded  as 
definite,  or  that  is  comparable  with  Kehl's  [Decroix  and  Condorcet] 
or  Beuchot's  editions  of  Voltaire. —  [Cf.  for  the  bibliography  of  Rous- 
seau, Querard,  La  France  litteraire,  vol.  viii.,  pp.  192-230] . 


THE   DEFORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL          349 

tion  of  the  Government  in  the  enterprise.  That  the  truth 
does  not  shine  by  its  own  light,  and  that  excellent  causes 
suffer  grievously  owing  to  their  being  ill  defended,  are  un- 
fortunately only  too  common  occurrences.  The  Nouvelles 
ecclesiastiques,  the  Jansenist  organ,  is  a  sample  of  the 
efforts  of  the  enemies  of  the  Encyclopedia.  The  publica- 
tion is  as  malevolent  as  possible,  but  also  as  insipid,  the 
writers  in  it  being  capable  of  little  else  than  of  branding 
all  the  productions  of  the  encyclopedic  school  as  so  much 
"nonsense"  and  "rubbish."  Freron,  the  editor  of  the 
Annee  litteraire,  may  not  have  been  invariably  wanting  in 
wit  and  good  sense,  and  still  less  in  courage,  but  it  would 
be  difficult  to  imagine  anything  pettier,  narrower,  and 
more  superficial  than  his  criticism  ;  while  his  bad  reputa- 
tion, whether  justified  or  not, — and  this  is  not  the  point 
here, — made  it  impossible  that  weight  should  be  attached 

II.— Michel-Jean  Sedaine  [Paris,  1719 ;  f  1797,  Paris] . 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — Grimm,     Correspondance     litteraire  ; — Duels, 
Notice    sur    Sedaine,   1797,   to    be   found  in   vol.   iii.   of  the   1826 
edition  of   Ducis'    works ; — Mme  de  Vandeul's  [Diderot's  daughter] 
Notice  in  vol.  xvi.  of  Tourneux'  edition  of  Grimm's  Correspondence  ; 
— Alfred   de   Vigny,  De  Mile  Sedaine  et  de  la  propriete  lilteraire, 
1841 ; — Jal,  Dictionnaire  critique,  article  SEDAINE. 

2.  THE  DRAMATIC  AUTHOR. — The  legend  attaching  to  Sedaine  [Cf. 
Mme  de  Vandeul's  notice] . — His  first  literary  efforts ; — the  Epitre  a 
mon  habit,  and  the  Recueil  of  1752 ; — Le  Diable  a  quatre,  1758. — 
Sedaine  writes  in  collaboration  with  Philidor ; — Blaise   le   savetier, 
1759 ; — and  with  Monsigny : — On  ne  s'avise  jamais  de  tout,  1761 ; — 
Le  Roi  et  le  Fermier,  1762 ; — Rose  et  Colas,  1764,  etc. ; — The  trans- 
formation of  comic  opera. — He  writes  for  the  Theatre-Fran9ais,  Le 
Philosophe  sans  le  savoir ; — and  that  over-estimated  little  comedy, 
La  Gageure  imprevue,  1768. 

That  the  Philosophe  sans  le  savoir  is  the  realisation  of  the  middle- 
class  drama  as  conceived  by  Diderot ; — by  reason  of  the  nature  of  the 
plot ; — the  social  status  of  the  personages ; — the  solemnness  of  their 
conversation ; — their  preoccupation  with  morality ; — and  the  unvary- 


350    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

to  his  utterances.  Palissot  was  scarcely  held  in  greater 
esteem.  In  his  comedy  Les  Philosophes  (1760),  the 
utmost  he  could  do -in  the  way  of  satire  was  to  represent 
Mme  Geoffrin,  under  the  name  of  Cydalise,  as  an 
authoress — Mme  Geoffrin  whose  ignorance  was  so  pro- 
verbial that  it  was  said  of  her  that  she  reverenced  it  "as 
the  active  and  fruitful  principle  of  her  originality!  "  [Cf. 
Garat,  Memoires  sur  M.  Suard,  vol.  i.,  bk.  vi.].  Of  another 
work  of  Palissot,  Petites  lettres  sur  de  grands  philosophes, 
La  Bruyere  might  have  said,  as  he  declared  of  the  Mer- 
cure  of  his  time,  that  it  ranks  "  immediately  after 
nothing."  This  being  the  calibre  of  the  adversaries  of 
the  Encyclopedia,  their  thrusts  failed  to  take  effect.  The 
impotent  lampoon  of  Moreau,  the  barrister,  Memoir e  pour 
servir  a  I'histoire  des  cacouacs  (1757),  might  raise  a  laugh 
for  a  moment,  though  without  its  being  very  clear  whether 

ing  vulgarity  of  the  style. —  On  the  other  hand,  in  connection  with 
the  incident  of  the  duel  skilfully  made  to  supervene  just  as  a  mar- 
riage is  being  arranged, — with  the  delicately  drawn  character  of 
Victorine  [Cf.  George  Sand,  Le  mariage  de  Victorine] , — and  with  the 
sincerity  of  the  author, — the  work  offers  almost  all  the  qualities  which 
Diderot's  dramas  lack ; — and  in  this  way  the  honour  belongs  to 
Sedaine  of  having  been  the  first  to  construct  a  drama  on  really  the 
same  lines  as  will  be  followed  later  by  such  writers  as  Scribe,  Augier, 
and  Dumas. 

Of  some  of  Sedaine's  other  works ; — and  that  their  characteristic 
is  that  they  are  "  pleasing  "  ; — but  deficient  in  strength  and  humour  ; 
— even  more  than  in  style  ; — and  this  in  spite  of  the  opinion  of  his 
contemporaries. — Moreover  he  doubtless  owes  much  to  the  composers 
who  wrote  the  scores  for  his  works  ; — and  in  particular  to  Gretry  ; — 
whose  music  procured  him  his  greatest  success,  Bichard  Cceur-de- 
Lion.  1874  ; — and  his  admission  to  the  Academy. 

3.  THE  WORKS.  —Sedaine  is  the  author  of  a  number  of  comic  operas, 
the  principal  of  which  we  have  mentioned ; — of  the  Pliilosoplie  ; — of 
the  Gageure  [based  on  the  tale  by  Scarron  which  Moliere  turned  to 
account  in  his  Ecole  des  femmes]  ; — and  of  two  long  dramas,  of  a 
more  or  less  historical  order  :  Raymond  V.,  Comte  de  Toulouse,  which 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  351 

the  laugh  was  at  the  expense  of  the  author  or  of  those  he 
was  attacking.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  obvious  that 
none  of  these  criticisms,  whether  in  a  serious  or  a  jocose 
vein,  went  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  or  even  came  near 
to  doing  so.  In  consequence,  the  reputation  of  the 
Encyclopedists,  who  gloried  as  much  in  the  inefficacy 
of  their  adversaries'  efforts  as  in  their  own  talent,  and  the 
fortunes  of  the  Encyclopedia  gained  ground  and  acquired 
additional  strength  and  solidity  owing  to  the  very  on- 
slaughts of  their  enemies. 

"  It  is  precisely  at  this  moment,"  writes  Garat,  "  that 
a  voice  which,  though  not  young,  was  entirely  unknown, 
made  itself  heard,  not  from  out  of  the  deserts  and  the 
forests,  but  from  the  very  midst  of  these  societies,  acade- 
mies, and  philosophers,  among  which  the  many  triumphs  of 
the  intelligence  were  giving  birth  to  such  infinite  hopes  .  .  . 

has  been  neither  played  nor  printed ;  and  Maillard  ou  Paris  sauve, 
printed  but  never  produced  on  the  stage. 

III.— The  Last  Period  of  Voltaire's  Life  [1762-1778] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. —  [Cf.  above :  The  First  Period  of  Voltaire's 
Life.] 

The  Potentate  of  Ferney ; — and  that  there  is  no  exaggeration  in  this 
expression  when  one  takes  into  consideration : — the  very  situation  of 
Ferney  [Cf.  Correspondance,  December  24, 1758] ;  the  footing  on  which 
Voltaire  stood  both  with  the  King  of  Prussia  and  the  Empress  of  Eussia ; 
— his  growing  reputation ; — and  the  sort  of  seal  that  is  put  on  his  fame 
by  his  intervention  in  favour  of  Galas  [Cf.  Athanase  Coquerel,  Jean 
Calas  et  safamille,  2nd  edition,  Paris,  1869] ; — and  of  the  Sirven  family 
[Cf.  Canaille  Rabaud,  Etude  historique  sur  Vavenement  de  la 
tolerance,  2nd  edition,  Paris,  1891] . — He  at  once  takes  advantage  of 
his  exceptional  situation  to  publish  his  Anecdotes  sur  Freron,  1761 ; — 
his  Lettres  sur  la  Nouvelle  Helo'ise,  1761 ; — his  Eloge  de  Crebillon, 
1762 ; — and  the  Relation  du  voyage  de  Pompignan,  1763  ; — writings 
which  are  mere  collections  of  insults  directed  against  his  various 
adversaries.—  During  the  same  period  he  is  visited  at  Ferney  by  the 
"philosophers  "  ; — he  continues  to  write  tragedies,  Olympic,  1762; — 


352    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

and  appealing  in  the  name  of  truth  to  the  human  race,  the 
voice  brings  an  accusation  against  literature,  the  arts,  the 
sciences  and  society  itself"  [Cf.  Garat,  Memoires  sur  M. 
Suard,  vol.  i.,  p.  164].  The  author  adds — and  the  infor- 
mation is  precious — "It  was  not,  as  has  been  stated,  a 
general  scandal  that  was  aroused  ;  the  universal  feeling 
was  one  of  admiration  and,  in  a  way,  of  terror."  This 
passage  should  be  taken  in  connection  with  the  follow- 
ing lines  from  the  Confessions :  "  Proud,  daring,  and 
courageous,  writes  Rousseau,  I  displayed  an  unfailing 
assurance  that  was  the  more  steadfast  because  it  was 
unaffected,  because  it  was  rooted  in  my  inmost  being 
rather  than  expressed  in  my  attitude.  The  contempt 
with  which  my  profound  meditation  had  inspired  me  for 
the  morals,  maxims,  and  prejudices  of  my  century  made 
me  insensible  to  the  scoffing  of  those  who  were  imbued 

tales,  Jeannot  et  Colin,  1764 ; — he  composes  his  Philoso])hie  de 
I'histoire,  1765 ; — his  Dictionnaire  ^thilosophique,  1765  [Cf.  with 
regard  to  the  order  in  which  the  articles  in  the  Dictionnaire  were 
written,  Beuchot's  edition,  vol.  xxvi.,  and  Bengesco,  vol.  iii.]  ; — and 
keeps  up  an  immense  correspondence. — His  intervention  in  connection 
with  the  Chevalier  de  la  Barre  [Cf.  Cruppi,  L'Avocat  Linguet,  Paris, 
1895  ; — and  Edouard  Herz,  Voltaire  und  die  Strafreclitspflege,  Stutt- 
gart, 1887]  ; — and  his  Commentary  on  Beccaria's  treatise  on  crimes 
and  penalties,  1766. — He  judges  that  the  moment  has  come  to  make 
a  determined  onslaught  on  Christianity  ; — and  any  expedient  is  good 
enough  for  his  purpose ; — -encouraged  as  he  is  both  by  the  instiga- 
tions of  Frederick, — and  by  the  entry  into  favour  of  Mme  Du  Barry, 
1769. — His  Histoire  du  parlement  regains  him  the  favour  of  the  autho- 
rities.— Publication  of  the  Questions  sur  V Encyclopedic,  1770-1772. 
— His  intervention  in  the  Montbailly  affair,  1770; — the  Morangies 
affair,  1772 ; — the  Lally  affair,  1773  [action  for  rehabilitation]  ; — in 
the  matter  of  the  serfs  of  Saint-Claude,  1770-1777  ; — and  the  way  in 
which  the  habitual  indecency  of  his  jests  spoilt  the  effect  of  his  efforts. 
— His  relations  with  Turgot,  1776. — Voltaire's  last  writings. — His 
Commentary  on  the  Esprit  des  Lois  and  his  last  tilt  against 
Montesquieu. — His  last  series  of  comments  on  Pascal's  Pensees ; — 


THE   DEFOEMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  353 

with  them,  and  with  my  sentences  I  crushed  their  petty 
witticisms  as  I  would  crush  an  insect  between  my 
fingers "  [Cf.  Confessions,  part  ii.,  book  9,  under  the 
date  1756].  Both  Kousseau  and  Garat  are  in  the  right. 
It  was  contempt  for  their  "morals,"  their  "prejudices," 
and  their  "  maxims "  that  brought  about  the  violent 
breach  between  Rousseau  and  his  former  friends  the 
philosophers.  Alone  and  unaided  he  struck  out  a  new 
line ;  and  it  is  because  they  will  perceive  what  he 
is  about,  or  rather  because  they  will  have  an  inkling 
of  it  before  they  really  perceive  it,  that  the  Marmontels 
and  the  Morellets,  the  Grimms  and  the  Diderots, 
d'Alembert,  the  group  of  Baron  d'Holbach  and  that 
of  Mme  d'Epinay,  that  Voltaire  himself  after  the  Lettre 
sur  les  spectacles  (1758) — which  is  the  declaration  of 
war  of  "  the  citizen  of  Geneva  " — that  they  will  all 

and  of  the  interest  offered  by  a  comparison  between  the  last  and  the 
first  series; — the  two  series  being  separated  by  an  interval  of  fifty 
years. — The  Dialogues  d'EvJiemere  and  the  Prix  de  la  justice  et  de 
Vhumanite,  1777. — His  efforts  to  obtain  permission  to  return  to  Paris. 
— He  leaves  Ferney,  February  5,  1778 ; — and  arrives  in  Paris  on  the 
10th  of  the  same  month. 

Voltaire's  philosophy  ; — and  that  without  desiring  to  exaggerate  its 
importance, — it  has  greater  significance ; — but  above  all  more  cohesion 
than  is  sometimes  thought ; — while  its  object  only  differs  from  that  of 
Montesquieu  hi  so  far  as  the  temperaments  of  the  two  writers  are 
different. — Three  mam  ideas  are  met  with  in  his  Dictionnaire  philo- 
sophique  as  in  his  tragedies  ; — and  again  in  Candide  or  the  Ingenu  no 
less  clearly  than  hi  the  Essai  sur  les  m&urs ; — of  which  the  first 
would  be  correctly  described  as  respect  for  the  BOOJaI_iastitution ; — 
were  it  not  that  owing  to  Voltaire's  manner  it  is  difficult  to  use  the 
word  "  respect "  hi  connection  with  him. — The  fact  remains,  however, 
that  his  philosophy  is  a  .social  philosophy ; — and  there  is  justification 
for  the  remark  that  he  was  "^conservative  in  everything  except  in 
religion." — Although  he  holds  that  men  are  decidedly  sorry  creatures 
[Cf.  Candide  and  the  Histoire  d'un  bon  Bramiri\  ; — he  considers  that 
"  they  can  be  taught  to  act  reasonably  as  well  as  foolishly"; — and 

24 


354    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOBY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

combine  to  form  the  most  compact  and  implacable 
coalition  against  him. 

The  futile  question  is  still  occasionally  argued  as  to 
whether  Diderot  or  Rousseau  was  the  first  to  "  redis- 
cover "  that  idea  of  "  nature  "  against  which  the  three  or 
four  generations  of  writers  and  thinkers  that  preceded 
them  had  fought  so  vigorously.  Let  it  be  conceded  that 
the  merit  belongs  to  Diderot,  and  let  it  be  conceded  as 
well,  since  he  himself  lays  claim  to  the  honour,  that  he 
had  "  laboured  at "  the  early  works  of  Rousseau. 
Under  these  circumstances,  Diderot  would  have  done 
well  to  explain  how  it  was  that  none  of  his  own  works 
produced  the  impression  "of  universal  admiration  and 
terror"  aroused  by  Rousseau's  two  first  Discours. 
Moreover,  why  does  he  not  boast  of  having  laboured 
at  Emile,  the  Contrat  social,  and  the  Lettres  de  la 

that  the  object  of  civilisation  is  to  turn  this  circumstance  to  account 
[Cf.  his  He-marques  sur  les  Pensees  de  Pascal] , — and  that  society  has 
the  same  object  [Cf.  the  A.B.C.] . — It  is  his  views  on  this  subject  that 
bring  him  into  conflict  with  Rousseau ; — far  more  than  the  divergency 
of  their  interests ; — a  fact  which  explains  the  violence  of  their  disputes ; 
— Voltaire  having  always  held  that  the  possibility  of  men  accomplishing 
such  progress  as  they  are  capable  of  lies  in  the  very  conditions  which, 
in  Rousseau's  eyes,  are  the  cause  of  their  "  depravity." — This  idea 
leads  him  to  adopt  another,  in  pursuance  of  which  he  violently  attacks, 
— and  unfortunately  by  any  means  he  finds  ready  to  hand, — what  in 
his  opinion  is  irrational  or  merely  unreasonable  in  the  organisation 
of  society ; — hence  his  attacks  on  "  justice," — he  himself  having  been 
the  victim  of  injustice ; — his  diatribes  against  war, — which  he  ascribes 
without  hesitation  or  reflection  to  motives  in  every  case  low  and 
interested; — hence,  too,  his  attacks  on  religion,  which  he  con- 
siders inhuman,  irrational,  and  "  good  enough  for  the  common 
herd"  [Cf.  Dieu  et  les  hommes,  the  Examen  de  Mylord  Baling  - 
broke,  and  a  dozen  other  pamphlets] . — On  the  other  hand,  as  he 
is  Voltaire, — as  he  is  too  clear-sighted,  that  is,  not  to  be  alive 
to  the  value  of  religion  as  a  "  repressive  principle," — he  believes 
in  the  existence  of  a  "  rewarding  and  avenging  God," — a  belief  which 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  355 

montagne?  The  truth  is  that  Rousseau,  when  once 
in  possession  of  this  idea  of  "  nature,"  perceived  all 
its  consequences,  including  those  which  had  escaped 
the  too  hasty  and  fuliginous  imagination  of  Diderot ; 
he  made  the  idea  his  own,  his  very  own  property, 
and  at  his  epoch  solely  his  property ;  and  vivifying 
it  with  the  ardour  of  his  grudges,  his  hatreds,  and  his 
pride,  enriching  it,  so  to  speak,  out  of  his  own 
substance,  and  communicating  to  it  the  fire  of  his  elo- 
quence and  of  his  passion,  he  gave  it  an  importance 
and  contagious  properties  with  which  it  had  not  been 
endowed  previously. 

Be  it  observed  that  Rousseau,  by  his  mode  of  con- 
trasting nature,  not  as  Rabelais  or  Montaigne  had 
formerly  done  with  the  vices  which  dishonour  it,  but  with 
art  itself,  proclaimed,  at  his  first  appearance  in  the  arena, 

implies  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul ; — in  Providence ; — and 
generally  in  all  that  constitutes  "  natural  religion  "  ; — including  trust 
in  the  "God  of  honest  folk"; — a  belief  accompanied  by  the  secret 
conviction  that  this  God  looks  with  special  favour  on  the  friends  of 
enlightenment ; — particularly  when  they  write  verse ; — and  compose 
tragedies. 

Voltaire  did  not  perceive  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  "  natural 
religion  "  ; — any  more  than  there  is  such  a  thing  as  "  free  necessity  " 
or  "  unvarying  chance  " ; — "  natural  religion  "  being  a  contradiction  in 
terms ; — all  the  truths  that  natural  religion  teaches  having  a  source 
outside  itself ; — and  being  merely  a  lay  adaptation  of  the  teachings  of 
some  "  revealed  "  religion. — He  also  did  not  perceive  that, — if  reason 
be  capable  of  arriving  at  some  of  the  constituent  truths  of  religion, — 
it  is  not  the  highest  truths  that  may  be  thus  arrived  at ; — and  still 
less  the  most  efficacious ; — and  that  a  belief  in  a  "  rewarding  and 
avenging  God  "  being  incapable  of  serving  as  a  principle  and  still  less 
as  a  motive  of  action, — being  only  capable  indeed  of  serving  as  a 
motive  for  inaction, — is  an  insufficient  base  for  morality; — which 
thus  becomes  purely  social ; — and  in  consequence  relative,  diverse, 
and  changeable. — Furthermore,  in  his  coarse  and  insulting  attacks  on 
Christianity, — he  was  often  unfair  as  well  as  unjust; — for  instance, 


356    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

not  merely  that  all  that  had  been  accomplished  for  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  past  in  the  way  of  treating 
nature  from  an  artistic  standpoint  had  had  its  day,  but 
also  that  the  effort  itself  was  based  on  an  initial  error. 
For  more  than  two  centuries  writers  had  been  on  the 
wrong  road!  There  was  nothing  but  "error  and  folly 
in  the  doctrine  of  the  wise  men  "  of  the  Encyclopedia. 
His  contemporaries  were  engaged  in  thinning  the  growth 
of  prejudices,  but  without  going  to  its  root  or  even 
perceiving  it,  so  that  how  could  it  be  supposed  that  it 
would  not  put  out  fresh  shoots  from  age  to  age?  "  Tell 
us,  oh !  celebrated  Arouet,  how  many  sturdy  and  virile 
beauties  you  have  sacrificed  to  our  false  delicacy?" 
[Cf.  Lettre  sur  les  spectacles,  and  compare  Nouvelle 
Heloise,  part  ii.,  letters  14,  17,  21].  Admit,  says 
Rousseau  in  other  words,  that  your  art  has  impaired 

when  he  refuses  to  admit  the  superiority  of  Christianity  over 
Mohammedanism  or  Paganism; — although,  from  the  purely  his- 
torical or  human  point  of  view,  Christianity  has  changed  the  face  of 
the  world ; — and  intolerance  and  "  fanaticism "  existed  before  the 
advent  of  Christianity ; — for  it  will  not  be  maintained  that  it  was  their 
proselytising  ardour  that  pitted  the  Persians  against  the  Greeks ; — or 
that  the  partisans  of  Marius  and  Sylla  fell  to  butchering  each  other 
over  a  question  of  dogma. — What,  however,  he  perceived  less  clearly 
still, — was  that  reason  alone  and  unaided  has  never  founded  anything 
really  durable  in  the  social  domain ; — if,  indeed,  it  cannot  be  said  that 
it  tends  to  anarchy  rather  than  to  union. — The  failure  of  reason  in 
this  sphere  had  been  firmly  established  by  Bossuet  and  Pascal; — 
which  is  the  reason  why  Voltaire  attacked  them  so  persistently, 
without  always  understanding  them.  —  Possessing  in  an  incom- 
parable degree  the  gift  of  perceiving  the  superficial  aspects  of 
great  questions  and  the  external  resemblance  between  them, — 
Voltaire  was  deficient  throughout  in  the  meditative  faculty ; — he 
never  gave  himself  the  time  or  prosecuted  the  studies  required 
for  their  adequate  examination; — and  this  is  what  good  judges 
mean, — when  they  refuse  him  the  title  of  philosopher  or  thinker, 
— and  term  his  work  "  a  chaos  of  clear  ideas  "  [E.  Faguet] . 


THE   DEFOEMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL          357 

your  genius  by  forcing  you  to  make  concessions  which 
your  nature  would  certainly  have  led  you  to  refuse. 
You  have  given  utterance,  not  to  what  you  had 
to  say,  but  to  what  you  believed  would  please  your 
contemporaries ;  and  not  content  with  wishing  to 
please  them,  with  a  view  to  their  satisfaction  you  have 
imitated,  you  have  submitted  to  be  influenced  by  models 
which  were  none  of  your  choice,  models  which  you  suffered 
should  be  forced  on  you.  You  were  bent  on  obtaining  the 
approval  of  the  public !  Born  to  be  yourself,  unique 
perhaps  of  your  kind,  you  have  accepted  the  tyranny  of 
fashion,  you  have  made  it  your  glory  to  resemble  others, 
to  resemble  your  entire  generation.  But  if  art  in  this 
way,  far  from  aiding  your  natural  gifts,  has  hindered 
their  development,  enslaved  them,  and  finally  perverted 
them,  what  is  the  remedy  for  this  evil,  what  is  the  lesson 

Nevertheless  his  philosophy  forms  a  connected  system ; — admitting 
that  few  people  are  inclined  to  make  a  thorough  examination  of  great 
questions ; — and  that  this  very  disposition  of  mind  may  be  said  to 
constitute  what  is  termed  Voltaireanism. — The  attitude  is  common 
enough ; — and  while  it  would  be  going  too  far  to  say  that  it  is  natural 
to  the  French  genius ; — Frenchmen  have  always  inclined  to  it  in  virtue 
of  a  sort  of  intellectual  Epicureanism. — Voltaire's  genius  made  hiru 
the  incarnation  of  this  bent  of  mind ; — and  the  secret  of  his  influence 
lies  in  the  fact  that  he  secured  it  recognition, — thanks  to  the  authority 
he  wielded  by  reason  of  his  intellectual  gifts  ; — his  literary  renown ; — 
and  his  social  position. — He  dealt  with  all  the  ideas  of  his  time  [Cf. 
Taine,  Ancien  Regime] ; — and  he  summed  up  all  or  almost  all  of  them 
in  "  a  portable  form  "  ; — expressing  them  in  terms  that  were  some- 
tunes  coarse ; — but  most  often  witty,  ingenious,  and  humorous ; — and 
as  a  rule  clear. — He  perceived  the  more  superficial  affinities  between 
them ; — gave  a  sufficient  exposition  of  their  relations ; — and  connected 
them  with  each  other  more  or  less  satisfactorily ; — so  that  his  chief 
merit  lies  in  his  having  saved  his  readers  the  laborious  effort  that 
attaches  necessarily  to  the  straining  of  the  attention. — His  readers 
enjoyed  the  illusion  that  they  understood  complex  problems ; — and  on 
finding  themselves  so  intelligent  they  accorded  him  their  admiration 


358    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE 

taught  by  your  example  ?  The  answer  is  that  we  should 
return  to  nature,  that  we  should  conform  ourselves  to 
nature;  and  by  the  mere  assertion  of  this  principle — 
especially  in  view  of  the  arguments  he  adduces  in  favour 
of  its  adoption — Rousseau  overthrows  at  one  stroke  the 
long-standing  authority  of  the  established  rules,  the  little 
that  survived  of  the  power  of  tradition,  and  the  rights  to 
which  the  community  pretended  over  the  sentiments  of 
the  individual. 

For  our  sentiments  are  we  ourselves,  or  rather  each  of 
us  is  only  himself  so  far  as  he  is  entirely  free  to  give 
expression  to  his  sentiments,  and  it  is  this  very  freedom 
that  constitutes  nature :  "  We  are  all  born  capable  of 
experiencing  sensations.  ...  As  soon  as  we  are  con- 
scious, so  to  speak,  of  our  sensations,  we  are  disposed  to 
regard  with  favour  or  to  avoid  the  objects  which  produce 

and  affection. — It  was  probably  something  of  this  sort  that  Goethe 
meant  when  he  termed  Voltaire  "  the  greatest  writer  that  can  be 
imagined  amongst  the  French  "  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  that  before 
accepting  the  compliment, — which  perhaps  is  not  without  a  trace  of 
envy, — it  must  be  well  weighed ; — and  the  question  asked  whether  at 
bottom  it  does  not  involve  a  somewhat  contemptuous  criticism, — of 
French  literature  and  of  the  genius  of  the  French  race. 

Voltaire's  return  to  Paris  and  death, — It  only  remains  to  recall 
briefly  the  circumstances  of  Voltaire's  last  sojourn  in  Paris  [Cf. 
Desnoiresterres,  Voltaire  et  la  societe  francaise,  etc.,  vol.  viii.J. — 
Arriving  in  Paris  on  February  10,  he  takes  up  his  residence  at 
the  Hotel  de  Bernieres ; — where  he  is  besieged  at  once  by  the 
court  and  society ;  —  the  Academicians  and  the  actors  of  the 
Comedie  Fran9aise ; — the  musical  world  and  the  philosophers ; — 
the  old  and  the  new  world. — Madame  du  Deffand  writes:  "People 
follow  him  in  the  street  and  raise  cries  recalling  his  intervention 
in  favour  of  the  Galas  family"; — and  that  there  is  perhaps  some 
exaggeration  in  this  picture ;  —  as  indeed  in  most  of  the  con- 
temporary testimony, — which  takes  a  pleasure  ha  contrasting  the 
enthusiasm  of  society  with  the  frigid  attitude  of  the  court  [Cf. 
Grimm,  or  rather  Meister  and  La  Harpe  in  their  Correspondances 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  359 

them.  These  dispositions  acquire  a  wider  range  and  be- 
come strengthened  .  .  .  but  they  are  more  or  less  perverted 
by  the  repressive  influence  of  our  habits.  Before  they 
undergo  this  perversion  they  constitute  what  I  call  our 
nature"  [Emile  i.  1].  What  does  this  mean  if  not 
that  "nature"  is  as  much  in  opposition  with  civilisa- 
tion in  general  as  with  art  in  particular?  Bousseau 
indeed  expressly  states  that  such  is  his  meaning : 
"  Everything  is  good  as  it  leaves  its  Maker's  hands, 
everything  degenerates  in  the  hands  of  man.  .  .  .  Pre- 
judices, authority,  necessity,  example,  all  the  social 
institutions  in  which  we  are  submerged  stifle  nature  in 
us"  [Emile  i.  1].  In  consequence,  the  aim  of  true  educa- 
tion will  be  to  rid  us  of  the  prejudices  which  prevent 
our  nature  developing  in  conformity  with  itself.  "Men 
in  the  natural  order  of  things  being  all  equal,  their 

litteraires] . — The  celebrations  of  the  30th  of  March :  the  sitting  of 
the  Academy ; — and  the  sixth  performance  of  Irene. — The  crowning 
of  Voltaire. — He  takes  steps  with  a  view  to  fixing  his  residence  in 
Parif..  -His  visit  to  the  Masonic  Lodge,  the  Neuf  Sceurs. — He  is 
invested  with  the  apron  of  "  brother  Helvetius  "  ; — which  he  "  desires 
to  kiss  before  accepting  it  "  [Cf.  Desnoiresterres,  vol.  viii.,  pp.  305-307] . 
— The  sitting  of  April  29th  at  the  Academy  of  Sciences. — Voltaire  and 
Franklin. — The  sitting  of  the  French  Academy  of  May  7th  and  the 
scheme  for  an  Historical  Dictionary. — Weariness,  illness,  and  death 
of  Voltaire  [May  30,  1778] . — Tronchin's  letter  relating  Voltaire's  last 
moments  [Cf.  Desnoiresterres,  vol.  viii.,  pp.  364-366] ; — and  whether 
the  construction  that  has  been  put  upon  it  is  justified. — The  legends 
in  circulation  in  connection  with  Voltaire's  death ; — and  that  it  would 
seem  that  they  are  legends  and  nothing  more. 
3.  THE  WORKS. — Voltaire's  works  are  composed  of : 

(1)  His  Poems,  comprising  a  little  of  everything :  an  epic  poem,  the 
Henriade,  1723,  1728 ; — Odes,  Epistles,  Satires,  Epigrams,  Madrigals, 
and  Tales ; — didactic  or  philosophic  poems,  such  as  :  the  Discours  sur 
rhomme,  1738,  the  Poeme  sur  la  loi  naturelle,  the  Poeme  sur  le  desastre 
de  Lisbonne,  1756 ; — translations ; — and  the  Pucelle. 

(2)  His  plays,  which  include :   tragedies,  of  which  the  most  cele- 


360    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

common  vocation  is  to  be  men,  and  whoever  is  so 
brought  up  as  to  fit  him  to  be  a  man  cannot  be  ill  fitted 
for  the  various  vocations  of  men.  .  .  .  When  he  leaves 
our  hands  our  pupil  will  be  neither  magistrate,  soldier, 
nor  priest;  he  will  be  primarily  a  man,  and  he  will 
be  as  capable  as  no  matter  who  else  of  being  whatever 
a  man  may  be  called  upon  to  be "  [Emile  i.  1].  Is  it 
necessary  to  point  out  that  Rousseau  is  thus  in  direct 
conflict  with  the  former  theory  of  education,  according 
to  which  the  chief  aim  of  the  educator  should  be  the 
adaptation  of  man  to  society ;  with  the  former  system 
of  morality,  whose  principle  was  to  substitute  general 
motives  of  action  for  the  individual  impulse  given  by  the 
instincts ;  and  with  the  former  system  of  aesthetics,  which 
proclaimed  that  it  was  above  all  things  imperative  to 
regard  the  faculty  of  sensation  with  suspicion,  it  being 

brated  are  CEdipe,  1718 ;  Zaire,  1732 ;  Alzire,  1736 ;  Mahomet,  1742 ; 
Merope,  1743 ;  Semiramis,  1748 ;  the  Orphelin  de  la  Chine,  1755 ; 
and  Tancrede,  1760 ; — comedies  not  one  of  which  has  escaped 
oblivion,  unless  it  be,  for  reasons  that  have  nothing  to  do  with 
literature,  the  Ecossaise,  1760 ; — and  a  few  operas. 

(3)  His  histories:  Histoire  de  Charles  XII.,  1731; — Le  siecle  de 
Louis  XIV.,   1751-1752  ;—Annales    de    V Empire,    1753-1754 ;— the 
Essai  sur  les  Mceurs,  1756 ; — Histoire   de  Russie,  1763 ; — and   his 
Histoire  du  Parlement,  1769. 

(4)  His  prose  tales,  the  principal  of  which  are :   Zadig,  1747 ; — 
Micromegas,  1752 ; — Candide,  1759 ; — Jeannot  et  Colin,  1764 ; — the 
Ingenu,  1767 ; — the  Homme  aux  quarante  ecus  and  the  Princesse  de 
Babylone,  1768 ; — the  Oreilles  du  comte  de  Chesterfield,  1775. 

(5)  His  Dictionnaire  philosophique,  1764 ; — and  his  Questions  sur 
V Encyclopedic,  1770-1772.     In  Kehl's  and  subsequent  editions  these 
two  works  are  combined  into  one  and  printed  in  alphabetical  order. 

(6)  His  Commentary  on  Corneille,  1764. 

(7)  His  miscellaneous   works,   which,   like  his  poems,  contain   a 
little  of  everything:  veritable  works  such  as  the  Lettres  anglaises, 
1734 ;  the  Traite  de  Metaphysique,  1734 ;  the  Traite  de  la  Tolerance, 
1.763 ; — and  mere  tracts  of  the  length  and  nature  of  our  newspaper 


THE   DEFORMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  361 

of  all  our  faculties  the  most  fluctuating  and  the  most 
variable. 

There  remains,  however,  a  further  point :  since  man 
does  not  constitute  the  whole  of  nature,  what  are  the 
relations  between  nature  and  man  ?  What  is  man's 
position  in  nature?  After  borrowing  an  idea  from 
Diderot,  Rousseau  now  appropriates  Buffon's  main 
idea,  and  proceeds  to  develop  its  most  extreme  con- 
sequences. Nature  is  the  cause  of  which  we  are  the 
effects.  We  are  thus  absolutely  dependent  on  nature, 
and  in  consequence  we  only  become  intelligible  to  our- 
selves in  proportion  as  we  perceive  the  complexity  of  the 
relations  that  exist  between  us  and  nature.  Herein  lies 
the  secret  of  happiness.  "  Nothing  is  so  proper  as  a 
favourable  climate  to  make  the  passions  which  would 
otherwise  be  the  torment  of  man  contribute  to  his 

articles  such  as  his  skits  on  Lefranc  de  Pornpignan,  les  Car,  les 
Quand,  les  Si. 

These  miscellanea  may  be  divided  into  scientific,  philosophic, 
historical,  literary,  and  anti-religious  writings. 

(8)  His  Correspondence, — consisting  of  more  than  10,000  letters, 
filling  20  volumes  in  Beuchot's  and  18  in  Moland's  edition, — while 
even  thus  it  is  far  from  complete.  New  letters  of  Voltaire  are  con- 
tinually being  discovered.  We  ourselves  are  aware  of  the  existence  of 
hundreds  of  unpublished  letters,  and  when  they  have  been  printed 
fresh  ones  will  probably  be  discovered.  Moreover,  the  wonderful 
thing  about  these  letters  is  that  scarcely  one  .of  them  is  wholly 
insignificant,  a  fact  which  distinguishes  them  from  Eousseau's 
Letters,  for  example,  and  still  more  from  Montesquieu's.  We  will  go 
further  still  and  say  that,  if  the  correspondence  of  some  few  women 
be  excepted,  or  rather  with  the  sole  exception  of  the  Letters  of  Mine 
de  Sevigne,  Voltaire's  Correspondence  stands  alone  hi  our  literature, 
while  of  his  entire  work  it  is  the  most  living  portion. 

IV.— The  Economists. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Grimm,  Correspondance  litteraire ; — Voltaire, 
J-iliomme  aux  quarante  ecus ; — the  Memoirs  of  Mme  du  Hausset, 
Marinontel,  and  Morellet ; — Galiani's  Correspondence. 


362    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

felicity "  [Nouvelle  Helo'ise,  part  i.,  letter  23] ;  and  it 
is  nature  and  nature  only  that  procured  Rousseau 
himself  "  some  few  moments  of  that  perfect  and 
absolute  happiness,  which  leaves  the  soul  with  no 
void  it  feels  the  need  of  filling  "  [Cf.  Letter  to  M.  de 
Malesherbes].  Let  us,  then,  abandon  ourselves  to 
nature,  and  henceforth,  instead  of  priding  ourselves  on 
dominating  it,  let  us  yield  it  a  wise  obedience.  We 
must  not  break,  we  must  not  try  to  break  or  even  to 
loosen,  the  bonds  between  us  and  nature.  "  Let  us 
plunge  into  its  bosom,"  as  a  poet  will  shortly  express 
himself,  and  entrust  it  with  the  conduct  of  our  destiny, 
unhappy  hitherto  for  no  other  reason  than  our  passion  for 
shaping  it  in  accordance  with  the  dictates  of  reason.  In 
this  way,  after  having  emancipated  the  individual  from 
the  tyranny  of  the  community,  and  transferred  to 

Garat,  Memoires  sur  la  vie  de  M.  Suard,  Paris,  1820 ; — Louis 
Blanc,  Histoire  de  la  Revolution  francaise,  vol.  i. ; — Tocqueville, 
L'Ancien  Regime  et  la  Revolution,  1856 ; — Mastier,  La  philosophic 
de  Turgot,  Paris,  1862; — F.  Cournot,  Considerations  sur  la  marche 
des  idees,  etc.,  vol.  ii.,  Paris,  1872 ; — L.  de  Lornenie,  Les  Mirabeau, 
vols.  i.  and  ii.,  Paris,  1879  ; — A.  Neyrnarck,  Turgot  et  ses  doctrines, 
1885  ; — Leon  Say,  Turgot,  1887  ; — Aug.  Oncken's  introduction  to  the 
works  of  Quesnay,  Paris,  and  Frankfort,  1888. 

2.  THE  DOCTRINE.— It  is  not  the  custom  to  accord  the  "  Econo- 
mists "  a  place  in  the  history  of  French  literature  ; — but  this  neglect 
is  a  mistake ; — since  after  all  they  write  no  worse  than  the  majority 
of  the  Encyclopedists ; — since  the  best  estimate  of  the  book  of 
Helvetius  is  that  we  owe  to  Turgot  [Cf.  Correspondance  inedite 
de  Turgot  et  de  Condorcet,  edited  by  M.  Ch.  Henry,  Paris,  1882]  ; 
— since  one  of  the  most  interesting  correspondences  it  is  possible 
to  read  is  that  between  the  Marquis  de  Mirabeau  and  Rousseau  [Cf. 
J.  J.  Rousseau  ses  amis  et  ses  ennemis,  Paris,  1865]  ; — and  since  the 
Ami  des  hommes,  1756 ; — or  the  Essai  sur  le  despotisme  de  la  Chine, 
1767-1768,  are  among  the  works  which  in  their  tune  made  the  most 
noise  and  produced  the  most  effect,  and  this  quite  rightly. 

The  founder  of  the   doctrine :    Frai^ois   Quesnay  [Merey,    1694 ; 


THE    DEFORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL          363 

sensibility  the  rights  of  the  intelligence  itself,  Rousseau 
completes  his  work  by  laying  down  the  principle  that 
man  shall  henceforth  be  regarded  as  a  function  of  nature. 
There  could  scarcely  be  an  idea  more  contrary  to 
humanism,  of  which  indeed  it  is  the  direct  contradiction, 
or  in  consequence  an  idea  which  must  deal  the  classic 
ideal  a  graver,  a  more  mortal  blow. 

What  was  the  attitude  of  contemporary  opinion  towards 
all  these  novelties?  and  what  reception  did  it  accord  them? 
It  greeted  them  with  applause.  Never,  perhaps,  has  a 
literary  reputation  been  more  speedily  or  more  universally 
established  than  that  of  Eousseau.  Ten  or  a  dozen  years 
sufficed  to  raise  him  as  high  in  public  esteem  as  even 
Voltaire.  Moreover,  public  opinion  was  mistaken  neither 
in  its  estimate  of  Rousseau  nor  in  the  reasons  for  its 
estimate.  In  the  Dijon  Discours,  in  the  Discours  sur 

f  1774,  Paris]  ; — he  begins  life  as  a  surgeon  ; — he  is  appointed  doctor 
in  ordinary  to  the  king ; — and  he  enjoys  the  confidence  of  Mme  de 
Pompadour  [Cf.  Memoires  de  Mme  du  Hausset]  ; — his  scientific 
writings  ; — his  first  economic  writings  ; — his  articles  on  the  farmers 
of  the  taxes  and  on  cereals  in  the  Encyclopedia  ; — his  friendship  with 
the  Marquis  de  Mirabeau. 

The  enfant  terrible  of  the  party:  Victor  de  Eiquetti,  Marquis  de 
Mirabeau  [Perthuis  in  Provence,  1715 ;  \  1789,  Argenteuil] . — His 
boisterous  youth,  and  his  first  campaign,  1734 ; — his  friendship  with 
Vauvenargues  [Cf .  vol.  ii.  of  Gibert's  edition  of  Vauvenargues]  ; — he 
writes,  in  collaboration  with  Lefranc  de  Pompignan,  the  Voyage  du 
Languedoc,  1740-1746; — his  marriage,  1743; — his  brochure  on  the 
utility  of  the  provincial  States-General,  1750. — He  publishes  his  Ami 
des  homrnes,  1756,  a  work  which  is  the  beginning  of  his  friendship 
with  Quesnay. — His  work  on  the  Theorie  de  I'Impot,  1760, — procures 
him  the  honour  of  imprisonment  at  Vincennes ; — after  which  he  is 
exiled  to  his  estate  at  Bignon. — His  return  to  Paris, — and  his  first 
Letter  to  Rousseau,  1766 ; — his  friendship  with  Turgot ; — and  the 
triumph  of  the  Economists. 

The  great  man  of  the  party :  Anne-Robert- Jacques  Turgot  [Paris, 
1727  ;  f  1781,  Paris]  ; — his  extraction  and  his  studies  at  the  Sorbonne  ; 


364    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

I' InegalitS,  in  the  Lettre  sur  les  spectacles,  Rousseau's 
contemporaries  recognised  the  accents  of  an  eloquence, 
the  secret  of  which,  there  was  ground  to  fear,  had  been  lost 
in  the  course  of  the  preceding  fifty  years.  They  felt  that 
the  Nouvelle  Heloise  was  athrill  with  an  ardour  of  passion 
of  which  they  were  fully  conscious,  although  they  them- 
selves had  ceased  to  be  acquainted  with  it,  that  the  drama 
and  the  novel  of  the  time  offered  them  but  an  inadequate 
and  sorry  parody.  The  women  went  into  ecstacies  over 
the  book  and  the  author  [Confessions,  ii.  2] ;  while  the 
men,  for  their  part,  were  vaguely  aware  that  the  pages 
of  Emile,  of  the  Lettre  a  I'archeveque  de  Paris,  of  the 
Contrat  social  were  eloquent  of  some  ill-defined  menace  ! 
The  public,  however,  does  not  always  understand  what  it 
admires  or  even  what  it  dreads ;  and  in  reality  Rousseau 
was  not  understood  by  his  contemporaries,  because  his 

— his  career  as  a  magistrate. — He  writes  for  the  Encyclopedia  [Cf. 
the  articles,  Etymology,  Existence,  Expansibility,  Fairs  and  Markets, 
Endowments] . — He  is  appointed  Intendant  at  Limoges,  1761-1774 ; 
—his  Ministry,  1774-1776. 

From  a  general  point  of  view — the  side  which  interests  us — the 
Economists  are  distinguished  from  the  Encyclopedists  by  three 
essential  characteristics : — their  belief  in  the  laws  of  economics,  which 
they  hold  to  be  as  "  necessary "  as  the  laws  of  physiology  or  of 
physics; — their  opinion  that  these  laws  and  a  knowledge  of  them 
are  of  more  importance  to  civilisation  and  progress  than  progress  in 
the  arts  or  hi  letters ; — and  their  conviction  that  the  only  way  to 
improve  nature  is  to  begin  by  submitting  to  it. — Other  differences 
might  be  pointed  out,  for  example : — that  they  are  "  empirics  "  or 
"utilitarians"; — who  consider  that  they  affirm  nothing  that  cannot 
be  demonstrated  by  facts; — while  the  Encyclopedists  are  "theori- 
cians "  and  "rationalists."  —  Further  they  have  a  respect  for 
authority,  which  Diderot,  d'Alembert,  and  their  followers,  and  even 
Voltaire,  were  in  general  without; — a  fact  which  explains  the 
favour  shown  them  down  to  the  fall  of  Turgot. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Of  Quesnay :  Essai  physique  sur  I' economic 
animate,  2nd  edition,  1747 ; — Maximes  du  go-uvemement  economique 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  365 

readers  were  people  of  fashion,  the  frequenters  of  the 
salons  he  attacks,  and  being  people  of  fashion,  after  the 
passing  emotion  caused  them  by  this  citizen  of  Geneva, 
their  attention  is  claimed  and  held  by  an  endless  variety 
of  other  objects  of  distraction,  curiosity,  and  discussion. 

For  example,  have  not  the  Jesuits  just  been  expelled 
and  even  suppressed — indeed  a  "subject  of  conversation," 
and  as  well  a  victory  for  philosophy  !  Voltaire  leaped  for 
joy  at  the  measure,  and  d'Alembert  regarded  it  as  a 
merited  chastisement  for  the  hostile  attitude  the  Jesuits 
had  thought  fit  to  adopt  towards  the  Encyclopedia. 
"  Their  diatribes  in  society  and  at  court  against  the 
Encyclopedia  had  stirred  up  against  them  a  class  of 
men  who  are  more  to  be  feared  than  is  often  thought : 
the  men  of  letters  " ;  and  it  is  incumbent  to  avoid  making 
enemies  who,  "  enjoying  the  privilege  of  being  read  from 

d'un  royaume  agricole,  1758; — Le  Droit  naturel,  1765; — Du  Com- 
merce, 1766 ; — Le  Despotisme  de  la  Chine,  1767,  1768. 

Of  the  Marquis  de  Mirabeau :  L'Ami  des  hommes,  1756 ; — and  the 
Theorie  de  I'lmpot,  1760. 

Of  Turgot :  Reflexions  sur  la  formation  et  la  distribution  des 
richesses,  1716.  This  is  almost  the  only  work  of  Turgot's,  apart  from 
his  articles  in  the  Encyclopedia,  with  which  his  contemporaries  were 
acquainted.  Moreover,  all  or  almost  all  his  writings  which  figure  in 
his  collected  works  (Eug.  Daire's  edition)  were  in  reality  mere  rough 
draughts,  which  owe  most  of  their  interest  to  the  role  played  by  their 
author. 

V.— Pierre- Augustin  Caron  de  Beaumarchis  [Paris,  1732; 
f  1799,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOUBCES. — Gudin  de  la  Brenellerie,  Histoire  de  Beau- 
marchais,  1801-1809?  [first  published  by  M.  Maurice  Tourneux 
in  1888]  ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  vi.,  1852; — L. 
de  Lomenie,  BeaumarcJiais  et  son  temps,  Paris,  1855 ; — Jal,  Diction- 
naire  critique,  article  BEAUMAECHAIS  ; — d'Arneth,  Beaumarchais  et 
Sonnenfels,  Vienna,  1868; — Paul  Huot,  Beaumarchais  en  Alle- 
magne,  Paris,  1869; — Clement  de  Koj'er,  Les  Memoires  de  Beau- 


one  end  of  Europe  to  the  other,  are  in  a  position  to  wreak 
a  signal  and  lasting  vengeance  with  a  stroke  of  the  pen ! " 
[Cf.  d'Alembert,  vol.  ii.,  p.  48,  edition  of  1821 ;  and 
Diderot,  Letter  to  Mile  Volland,  August  12,  1762].  Be 
it  said  that  it  is  not  of  himself  or  of  Diderot  that  he  speaks 
in  these  terms,  but  of  Voltaire.  The  beginning  of  the 
incident  of  the  Jesuits  preceded  the  burning  of  Emile, 
and  the  Galas  incident  occurred  immediately  after  it. 
Never  has  public  emotion  been  more  legitimately  aroused 
than  on  this  latter  occasion,  if  there  be  no  example  of  a 
more  deplorable  judicial  error.  "From  one  end  of  Europe 
to  the  other" — the  expression  is  justified  here — the  entire 
magistracy  is  affected  by  the  scandal,  and  the  whole 
system  of  French  criminal  law  is  put  on  its  trial.  Once 
more  it  is  Voltaire  who  leads  the  campaign,  and  his 
TraiU  de  la  toUrance  (1763)  does  more  to  popularise 

marchais,  Paris,  1872 ; — Bettelheim,  Beaumarchais,  eine  Biographic, 
Frankfort,  1886; — E.  Lintilhac,  Beaumarchais  et  ses  CEuvres, 
d'apres  des  documents  inedits,  Paris,  1887 ; — A.  Hallays,  Beau- 
marchais,  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  fran£ais  "  series,  Paris,  1897  ; — 
Henri  Cordier,  Bibliographic  des  ceuvres  de  Beaumarchais,  Paris,  1883. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — Beaumarchais'  extraction,  family, 
and  early  education; — he  begins  life  as  a  clock-maker. — His  first 
quarrel  with  Lapaute,  1753-1755. — He  is  appointed  teacher  of  the 
harp  to  the  daughters  of  Louis  XV.,  1759. — His  duels  and  his  success 
with  women. — He  makes  the  acquaintance  of  Paris-Duverney, — 
through  whom  he  becomes  mixed  up  in  all  sorts  of  financial  affairs. — 
The  Spanish  adventure,  1764  [Cf.  the  fourth  Memoire  against 
Goezman ;  and  Goethe's  Clavijo] , — His  first  literary  efforts :  Eugenie, 
1767,  and  the  Essai  sur  le  genre  dramatique  serieux. — Beaumarchais 
as  an  unsuccessful  imitator  of  Sedaine,  and  a  faithful  disciple  of 
Diderot. — Of  the  value  of  Beaumarchais'  main  argument  against 
classic  tragedy:  "Of  what  concern  to  me  .  .  .  are  the  revolutions 
of  Athens  and  Eome ;  " — and  that  it  has  a  social  as  well  as  a  literary 
significance. — Beaumarchais'  second  drama :  Les  Deux  amis,  1770. 

The  Goezman  incident, — and  the  Memoires,  1773-1774. — Prompt 
sensation  they  cause ; — and  sudden  popularity  of  Beaumarchais. — 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  367 

his  name  in  a  single  day  than  all  the  rest  of  his  work 
in  half  a  century.  The  Parliament  of  Paris  rejoins  in 
1765  by  ordering  his  Dictiomiaire  Philosophique  to  be 
burned,  but  the  odious  legal  procedure  resorted  to  at 
Abbeville  and  the  punishment  inflicted  on  the  Chevalier 
de  la  Barre  again  causes  opinion  to  side  with  the 
philosophers.  Already  victorious  over  the  clergy,  they 
are  now  victorious  over  the  magistracy  [Cf.  Felix 
Rocquain,  L' esprit  revolutionnaire  avant  la  Revolu- 
tion, bk.  vii.,  Paris,  3878].  To  complete  their  triumph 
it  only  remains  for  them  to  throw  discredit  on  the 
Government,  and  it  happens  that  towards  1768  the 
"  Economists "  seem  to  give  them  their  opportunity. 
The  philosophers  pretend  to  regard  Turgot  and  his 
companions  as  "  extollers  and  upholders  of  despotic 
authority " ;  they  reproach  them  with  employing 

Reasons  for  this  success ; — and  that  while  they  are  in  part  political ; — 
they  are  also  in  part  literary ; — although  the  humour  of  the  Memoires 
is  sometimes  in  doubtful  taste ; — their  style  is  always  on  the  verge  of 
being  declamatory, — and  the  matters  they  treat  are  of  rather  a 
trumpery  order. — The  Barbier  de  Seville,  1775  ; — and  how,  while 
turning  to  account  in  this  work  a  subject  that  might  be  thought 
worn  out, — Beaumarchais  produced  his  masterpiece ; — and  the 
masterpiece  of  the  French  comedy  of  the  eighteenth  century. — The 
success  of  the  Barbier  de  Seville  won  definite  recognition  for  prose 
comedy ; — and  it  is  from  the  appearance  of  this  piece  onwards  that 
skill  in  the  conduct  of  the  plot ; — dramatic  action ; — and  daring  and 
vivacious  dialogue  become  the  essential  characteristics  of  plays  of 
this  order. — Beaumarchais'  political  and  commercial  intervention  in 
American  affairs,  1776,  1778. — The  qualities  of  the  Barbier  de  Seville 
are  again  met  with  in  the  Mariage  de  Figaro,  1783 ; — though  this  lattei 
work  contains  additional  characteristics, — of  a  kind  less  theatrical  per- 
haps,— and  as  proper  to  the  pamphlet  as  to  comedy. — The  political 
influence  of  the  Mariage; — and  that  it  would  doubtless  have  been 
even  greater  than  it  was ; — had  not  Beaumarchais,  who  was  always 
occupied  with  business  speculations  as  well  as  with  literature,  had 
the  misfortune  to  fall  foul  of  Mirabeau,  1786 ; — and  to  intervene 


368    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

"apocalyptic  and  pious  language,"  with  being  "enemies 
of  the  Fine  Arts  "  [Cf.  Grimm,  Correspondence,  October, 
1767].  Voltaire  attacks  them  in  his  Homme  aux  quarante 
ecus,  which,  although  not  one  of  his  best  skits,  is  never- 
theless a  success,  its  title  passing  into  a  proverb.  And 
thus,  thanks  to  the  patriarch  of  Ferney,  the  Economists 
too,  vanquished  and  discontented,  are  kept  in  check  for  a 
time. 

We  say  "thanks  to  the  patriarch  "  advisedly,  for  the  truth 
is  that  the  various  incidents  just  referred  to  would  scarcely 
belong  to  the  history  of  literature,  were  it  not  for  Vol- 
taire's intervention  in  them,  and  in  particular  for  the  fact 
that  the  place  he  occupies  in  the  history  of  his  century  is 
due  to  this  very  intervention.  It  is  because  he  inter- 
vened in  the  question  of  the  "  nett  product  "  and  in  that 
of  "  legal  despotism"  that  he  is  Voltaire ;  and  he  would 

(1787)  in  the  trial  of  Kornmann  and  his  wife ; — on  which  occasion  the 
counsel  Bergasse  handled  him  as  severely  as  he  himself  had  handled 
Goezman  twelve  years  previously; — for  different  reasons  indeed, — 
but  with  an  equal  appearance  of  justice  ; — and  amid  like  applause. 

Beaumarchais'  last  years. — His  opera  Tarare,  1787. — Obscurity  of 
his  role  during  the  revolution ; — his  drama  La  Mere  coiipable,  1792. 
— Although  rich  and  already  sixty  years  of  age, — his  passion  for 
speculation  reasserts  itself. — His  purchase  of  fire-arms  [Cf.  Lomenie, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  460]  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  Beaumarchais'  patriot- 
ism;— his  arrest;— his  release  and  his  Memoire  a  la  Convention. — 
He  is  entrusted  with  a  mission  by  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety, — 
while  simultaneously  the  Paris  Commune  declares  him  a  suspect  and 
an  emigrant. — His  stay  in  Hamburg ; — his  return  to  France ; — his 
two  letters  on  Voltaire  and  Jesus  Christ,  1799 ; — and  his  death. 

3 .  THE  WORKS .• — B eaumar chais'  principal  works  are  mentioned  abo  ve, 
and  it  will  suffice  to  indicate  as  the  best  edition  of  his  complete  works 
that  issued  by  his  friend  Gudin,  Paris,  1809,  Collin  [Cf.  E.  Foumier's 
edition,  Paris,  1876,  Laplace  and  Sanchez] . 

VI.— The  End  of  Tragedy,  1765-1795. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Grimm,  Correspondance  litteraire; — Laharpe, 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  369 

not  be  Voltaire  if  he  had  not  undertaken  the  defence  of 
the  Galas  and  of  the  Chevalier  de  la  Barre.  We  are  not 
examining  here  the  motives  of  a  more  or  less  political 
order  which  prompted  his  intervention,  and  we  do  not 
desire  to  analyse,  as  it  were,  his  outburst  of  generosity. 
We  merely  note  that  his  real  masterpiece  was  his  life. 
If  his  contemporaries  admired  him  chiefly  for  his  extra- 
ordinary faculty  of  assimilation,  combined  with  a  not  less 
extraordinary  facility  of  execution  or  expression,  it  is 
certain  that  they  admired  these  qualities  the  more,  in  pro- 
portion as  the  objects  in  connection  with  which  he  turned 
them  to  account  were  more  numerous,  more  varied,  and 
more  foreign  in  appearance  to  his  interests  or  any  con- 
siderations of  personal  vanity.  It  is  to  be  noted  finally, 
that  while  until  1760,  or  thereabouts,  he  had  been  but 
one  man  of  letters  among — unus  ex  multis — from  this 

Correspondance  litteraire ; — Geoffrey,  Cours  de  litterature  drama- 
lique ; — Mgr.  Lemercier,  Cours  analytique  de  litterature  generate ; — 
Petitot,  Repertoire  du  theatre  francais,  vols.  v.  and  vi. ;  and  Supple- 
ment, vol.  i.  ; — Laharpe's,  de  Belloy's,  Duels'  and  M.  J.  Chenier's 
Prefaces  and  notes  to  their  tragedies ; — Saint-Surin's  Notice  in  his 
edition  of  Laharpe's  works ; — Carnpenon's  Notice  in  his  edition  of 
the  posthumous  works  of  Ducis  ; — Etienne  and  Martainville,  Histoire 
du  theatre  francais  pendant  la  Revolution,  Paris,  1881. 

2.  THE  RIVALRY  BETWEEN  THE  DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  TRAGEDY. — 
Voltaire's  predominant  and  sovereign  influence  over  the  tragic  drama 
of  his  tune ; — reasons  of  this  influence ; — and  its  consequences  [Cf. 
the  Discours  de  reception  de  Ducis] . 

Philosophic  tragedy ; — and  its  evolution  in  the  direction  of  melo- 
drama ; — Laharpe's  Melanie,  1770  ; — and  his  Brames,  1783. — The 
dramas  of  Mercier  [1740 ;  f  1814]  ; — and  the  tragedies  of  Marie- 
Joseph  Chenier  [1764 ;  f  1811]  :  Charles  IX.,  1789  -—Henri  VIII., 
1791 ; — Jean  Colas,  1791 ; — Fenelon,  1793. — Comparison  between  the 
subject  of  Fenelon  and  that  of  Melanie ; — and  that  these  works  must 
not  be  regarded  as  imitations  of  Diderot's  Religieuse,  which  was  not 
published  until  1796. — Definition  of  philosophic  tragedy; — and  that 
so  far  as  it  is  confined  "  exclusively  to  the  defence  of  some  political, 

25 


370    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOBY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

date  onwards  he  has  become  the  man  of  his  century  and 
the  personage  known  to  history.  All  these  events,  then, 
which  might  seem  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  history 
of  literature,  belong  to  it  in  consequence  of  the  part  he 
played  in  them.  They  brought  into  existence  the  real 
Voltaire ;  they  acquainted  Voltaire  with  the  nature  of  his 
power,  they  raised  him  out  of  the  ruck  and  put  him  on  an 
equality  with  the  "  dozen  men  "  of  whom  Diderot  declared 
as  late  as  1762,  that  "  without  standing  on  tip-toe  they 
would  still  surpass  him  by  a  head  "  [Cf.  Letter  to  Mile 
Volland,  August  12,  1762].  Furthermore  they  invested 
him  in  the  eyes  of  the  nation  with  that  universal,  that 
authoritative  influence  which,  in  spite  of  his  efforts,  had 
hitherto  been  disputed  or  denied  him ;  and  certain  essen- 
tial consequences  were  almost  at  once  the  outcome  of  the 
unique,  the  predominant,  the  almost  sovereign  situation 
which  events  had  procured  him. 

religious,  or  moral  thesis  "  [Cf.  Laharpe,  Works,  vol.  ii.,  p.  639], — 
it  is  the  very  opposite  of  tragedy, — and  of  drama. 

National  tragedy ; — and  that  it  is  again  Voltaire  who  with  his 
Hcnriade  and  his  Zaire, — is  found  to  be  the  originator  of  "national 
tragedy,"  that  is  of  tragedy  based  on  the  history  of  France  ; — and 
principally  intended  to  familiarise  the  spectators  with  that  history. — 
De  Belloy's  very  successful  pieces :  Le  siege  de  Calais,  1765 ; — 
Gaston  el  Bayard,  1771 ; — Gabrielle  de  Vergy,  1777  ; — and  that  the 
object  of  these  tragedies  is  scarcely  dramatic ; — but  rather  didactic. 
[Cf.  the  Prefaces  of  de  Belloy  himself  in  Petitot's  Repertoire,  vol.  v.] 

Exotic  tragedy ; — and  that  in  spite  of  what  might  be  thought  at 
first  sight,  the  conception  from  which  it  proceeds  is  akin  to  that 
underlying  "  national  tragedy  "  ; — if  its  object  be  to  make  the  theatre 
a  medium  for  the  vulgarisation  of  geography  and  foreign  history. — ; 
Lemierre's  [1723  ;  f  1793]  Guillaume  Tell  and  his  Veuve  du  Malabar, 
1766  and  1770. — De  Belloy's  Pierre  le  Cruel,  1773,  and  Laharpe's 
Menzicoff,  1775.  —  Laharpe's  Barmecides,  1778.  —  Du  Buisson's 
Tliamas  Kouli  Khan,  1780. — Marignie's  Zora'i  or  Les  Insulaires  de  la, 
Nouvelle-Zelande,  1782 ; — and  that  all  these  creations  are  inspired 
by  Voltaire's  Alzire  or  his  Orpliclin  de  la  Chine. 


THE   DEFORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  371 

During  the  closing  years  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.,  if 
the  religious  question  be  excepted,  a  sort  of  appeasement 
is  seen  to  succeed  the  tumult  and  agitation  of  the  pre- 
ceding period.  The  conflicting  parties  are  not  reconciled, 
but  they  agree  at  least  to  a  truce.  The  Sorbonne  may 
censure  Marmontel's  Belisaire,  "but  neither  the  court  nor 
the  parliament  interferes  in  the  matter ;  the  author  is 
merely  recommended  to  keep  silent";  the  printing  of 
Belisaire  is  proceeded  with,  and  the  work  is  on  sale 
bearing  the  king's  privilege  [Cf.  Marmontel's  Memoirs, 
bk.  viii.].  The  encyclopedic  doctrine  is  circumscribed  by 
its  upholders  themselves  until  it  is  nothing  more  than  the 
Deism  of  Voltaire.  The  Parliament  condemns,  indeed, 
Baron  d'Holbach's  work,  Le  systeme  de  la  nature  (1770), 
but  it  declines  to  insert  in  its  decree  the  speech  of  the 
Advocate  General,  Seguier,  while  it  is  Voltaire  himself 

Grceco-Roman  tragedy  ; — and  that  it  is  astonishing  that  nothing  of 
value  resulted  from  this  effort  to  attain  to  historic  truth ; — and  to 
exactness  of  local  colour. — Lernierre's  Hypermnestre,  1758,  and  his 
Idomenee,  1764. — Laharpe's  Timoleon,  1764. — Ducis'  CEdipe  cJiez 
Admete,  1778. — Laharpe's  Philoctete,  1783,  and  his  Coriolan,  1784.— 
N.  Lemercier's  Meleagre,  1788. — Chenier's  Ca'ius  Gracchus,  1792  ; — 
Legouve's  Epicharis,  1794. — The  reason  that  induced  these  writers  to 
give  a  preference  to  Greek  subjects  [Cf.  below  ANDRE  CHKNIBR]  ; — and 
whether  this  tendency  should  not  be  regarded  as  evidence  of  a  formal 
intention  to  fight  against  the  English  influence ; — and  to  return,  to 
this  end,  to  the  most  remote  sources  of  Classicism  ? 

Shakespearean  tragedy ; — and  of  Campenon's  significant  eulogy  of 
Ducis  [1733  ;  f  1816]  ; — in  whose  favour  he  urges  "  that  he  has  never 
once  been  seen  to  go  to  the  Greek  tragic  writers  for  his  subjects." — 
Relative  importance  of  the  role  of  Ducis  in  this  respect. — His  "  adap- 
tations "  :  Hamlet,  1769 ;— Borneo  et  Juliette,  1772 ;— Boi  Lear,  1783  ; 
— Macbeth,  1784 ; — Othello,  1792  ; — and  of  Sedaine's  curious  remark 
[letter  to  Ducis]  :  "  The  writer  to  whom  Othello  only  suggested  Zaire 
neglected  what  is  essential "  in  Shakespeare's  play. — Still  it  was  the 
author  of  Zaire  who  showed  the  way  to  the  imitators  and  adapters  of 
Shakespeare  ; — and  to  Ducis  in  particular ; — and  if  with  the  exception 


372    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

who  undertakes  to  attack  and  refute  the  book.  The 
attitude  of  Voltaire  is  the  same  when  De  I'homme,  a  post- 
humous work  of  Helvetius,  appears  in  1773.  Rousseau, 
who  lives  obscurely  in  his  humble  retreat  in  the  Rue 
Platriere,  has  ceased  to  attract  attention.  "  It  was  his 
wish  to  avoid  men,"  writes  La  Harpe,  "  and  men  have 
forgotten  him."  D'Alembert  is  translating  Tacitus,  and 
Diderot  is  at  work  on  his  Essai  sur  les  regnes  de  Claude  et 
de  Neron.  Grimm,  who  in  1768  predicted  "  a  revolution 
to  be  imminent  and  inevitable,"  declares  in  1770  that 
"  public  tranquillity  has  never  been  more  assured."  When 
Chancellor  Maupeou  effects  his  coup  d'etat  against  the 
Parliaments  in  1771,  he  is  applauded  by  the  men  of 
letters,  who  have  become  the  supporters  of  the  central 
authority.  In  1774,  on  the  succession  to  the  throne  of 
Louis  XVI.,  the  reconciliation  of  the  Encyclopedists  and 

of  philosophic  tragedy  [CL  however,  Victor  Hugo's  Preface  to  his 
plays]  ; — all  the  other  branches  just  referred  to  are  those  which  will 
be  essayed  before  long  by  the  Romanticists ; — the  latter,  in  conse- 
quence, followed  the  initiative  of  Voltaire. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Nothing  survives  at  the  present  day  of  the  works 
we  have  just  been  mentioning ;  and  still  less  of  many  other  produc- 
tions it  would  be  easy  to  enumerate.  For  the  curious,  however,  there 
exist  excellent  editions  of  Lemierre  (selected  works),  Paris,  1811,  F. 
Didot ; — of  Laharpe  (complete  works  with  the  exception  of  the  Lycee) 
Paris,  1820-1821,  Verdiere ; — and  of  Ducis  [complete  works,  3  vols., 
and  posthumous  works,  1  vol.] ,  Paris,  1826,  Nepveu. 

VII.— Andre-Marie  de  Chenier  [Constantinople,  1762 ;  f  Paris, 

1794] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — H.  de  Latouche's  Notice  in  the  edition  of  1819 ; 
— Saint-Beuve,  Mathurin  Regnier  et  Andre  Chenier,  1829,  in  his 
Tableau  de  la  poesie  franqaise  au  XVIe  siecle ;  Portraits  lit- 
teraires,  1839,  vol.  i.  ;  Portraits  contemporains,  1844,  vol.  v. ; 
Causeries  du  lundi,  1851,  vol.  iv. ;  and  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  iii., 
1862. — A.  Michiels,  Histoire  des  Idees  litteraires  au  XIXe  siecle, 
1843  ; — Becq  de  Fouquiere's  Notice  in  his  edition  of  the  works,  1862 ; 


THE   DEFOEMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  373 

the  Economists  is  consummated  by  the  simultaneous 
presence  in  the  Ministry  of  Malesherbes  and  Turgot. 
The  two  parties  are  now  at  the  head  of  affairs  and 
disposed  to  scoff  at  the  younger  generation,  "  which  on 
leaving  college  believes  itself  under  the  obligation  of 
teaching  those  in  authority  how  to  govern  their  States  !  " 
A  curious  movement  comes  into  existence  under  cover 
of  this  appeasement.  The  classic  spirit  concentrates  its 
forces  and  takes  the  offensive,  as  if  about  to  deliver 
a  last  battle  before  abandoning  its  dismantled  strong- 
hold. It  essays  what  little  strength  it  still  possesses 
against  that  "  anglomania  "  whose  "alarming  progress" 
it  regards  as  an  equal  menace  to  "  the  gallantry  of 
the  French,  the  culture  of  their  society,  their  taste  for 
the  toilette,"  and  their  literature.  Voltaire  writes  : 
"  A  few  Frenchmen  are  setting  up  amongst  us  an  effigy 

and  Documents  nouveaux,  Paris,  1875  ; — G.  L.  de  Chenier's  Notices 
and  Notes  in  his  edition  of  the  works,  Paris,  1874 ; — Caro,  La  fin  du 
XVIIP  siecle,  vol.  ii.,  1880 ; — Anatole  France,  La  vie  litteraire, 
vol.  i.,  1888,  and  vol.  ii.,  1890; — J.  Haraszti,  La  poesie  d1  Andre 
Chenier,  translated  from  the  Hungarian  by  the  author,  Paris,  1892 ; — 
Em.  Faguet,  XVIIP  siecle; — L.  Bertrand,  La  fin  du  classicisme  et  le 
retour  a  Vantique,  Paris,  1897. 

2.  THE  POET  ; — and  that  although  his  works  did  not  appear  until 
after  his  death, — this  is  the  place  to  deal  with  them ; — since  a  num- 
ber of  his  contemporaries  were  acquainted  with  them  in  part ;—  and 
even  imitated  them  (Millevoye  for  example), — and  since  their  essential 
features  are  characteristic  of  a  renaissance  of  Classicism, — of  which 
proof  has  survived  in  the  shape  of  Caylus'  Histoire  de  Vart, — of 
David's  pictures  ; — and  of  Abbe  Barthelemy's  Voyage  du  jeune 
Anarcharsis. — There  cannot,  in  consequence,  be  a  greater  error  than 
to  regard  Andre  Chenier  as  a  "  forerunner  of  Romanticism." — On  the 
contrary,  it  is  proper  to  consider  him  not  merely  as  a  Boileau  or  a 
Malherbe  gifted  with  inspiration  ; — but  as  a  Bonsard, — who  should 
have  read  Voltaire,  Montesquieu  and  Buffon  ; — Buffon  more  especially 
perhaps ; — and  more  modern  than  the  original  Konsard  by  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years. 


374    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

of  the  divinity  of  Shakespeare,  just  as  another  set  of 
imitators  have  recently  erected  a  Yauxhall  in  Paris,  or 
as  others  have  distinguished  themselves  by  calling  '  aloy 
aux'  'roastbeef.'  Formerly  the  court  of  Louis  XIV. 
helped  to  polish  that  of  Charles  II.  ;  nowadays,  it  is 
London  that  rescues  us  from  a  state  of  barbarism."  La 
Harpe  re-echoes  his  complaints  in  his  Gorrespondance 
litteraire.  Translations  from  the  Greek  and  Latin 
abound,  and  are  contrasted  with  versions  of  Shakespeare 
and  Ossian.  The  appearance  in  1769  of  Abbe  Delille's 
Georgiques  was  quite  an  event,  Voltaire  declaring  the 
work — together,  it  is  true,  with  Saint-Lambert's  Saisons 
and  after  the  Art  poetique — "the  best  poem  by  which 
France  has  been  honoured."  Four  translations  of  the 
Iliad  and  the  Odyssey,  two  in  verse  and  two  in  prose, 
were  issued  between  1770  and  1789.  Even  archaeology 

Chenier's  Elegies, — and  that  they  are  characteristic  of  their  period 
as  regards  their  somewhat  complicated  phraseology ; — their  dedication 
to  a  "  Lycoris,"  a  "  Camille,"  or  a  "  Fanny  "  ; — the  impersonal 
character  the  poet  is  at  pains  to  give  them ; — their  sensuousness  ; — 
and  a  sort  of  amorous  ferocity  that  marks  them, — a  ferocity  that 
points  to  the  influence  of  the  Liaisons  dangereuses. — Chenier's  Elegies 
are  the  work  of  a  greater  poet  than  those  of  the  Chevalier  de  Parny, 
but  they  are  work  of  a  kindred  type  [Cf.  H.  Potez,  VElegie  depuis 
Parny  jusqu'a  Lamartine,  Paris,  1898]  ; — for  though  doubtless  more 
Greek  and  Latin  in  their  inspiration  ; — they  nevertheless  offer  the 
same  characteristics ; — when  indeed  they  do  not  remind  the  reader 
of  P.  J.  [Gentil]  Bernard ;— and  of  the  Abbe  Delille  : 

Pourquoi  vois-je  languir  ces  vins  abandonnes 
Sous  le  liege  tenace  encore  emprisonnes  ? 

The  fragments  of  Hermes  ; — and  that  it  is  easy  to  trace  the  same 
characteristics  in  them  ; — and  to  point  out  others  which  also  belong 
to  the  eighteenth  century. — Full  of  the  ideas  of  Buffon,  Andre 
Chenier  appears  in  this  work  as  an  enthusiastic  interpreter  of  the 
ideas  of  his  time ; — and  already  as  the  poet  of  the  "  struggle  for  life.' 


THE   DEFORMATION    OF    THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  375 

and  erudition,  which  had  been  so  disdainfully  handled  in 
the  Preliminary  Discourse  of  the  Encyclopedia,  come  into 
fashion  again.  A  young  writer  declares,  in  the  notes  he 
scribbles  on  the  margin  of  his  copy  of  Malherbe,  that 
"  even  when  we  depict  modern  scenes  and  characters,  we 
must  learn  how  to  delineate  them  by  studying  Homer, 
Virgil,  Plutarch,  Tacitus,  Sophocles,  and  ^Eschylus." 
A  little  later  he  will  write  in  verse:  "Feast  on  the 
seductive  fare  offered  by  the  mighty  writers  of  Greece, 
but  avoid  the  heavy  intoxication  of  that  spurious  and 
boisterous  Permessus,  where  drink  the  harsh  singers  of 
the  nebulous  North."  Would  Boileau  himself  have 
given  different  advice  ? 

The  reader  will  perhaps  be  surprised  that  in  proof  of 
this  renaissance  of  the  classic  spirit  we  should  cite  the 
author  of  the  Barbier  de  Seville  and  of  the  Mariage  de 

— Like  Voltaire  and  Condorcet  he  deals  with  the  origin  of  religions ; — 
laying  to  their  door  most  of  the  sufferings  of  humanity  ;— and  accusing 
the  "  priests  "  of  having  turned  them  to  account  in  their  own  interest. 
— Finally  in  the  third  Canto  he  develops  the  doctrine  of  "  transformed 
sensation " ; — proclaims  the  invincible  tendency  of  man  towards 
"  virtue  and  truth  "  ; — and  concludes  by  addressing  a  hymn  to 
"  science "  [Cf.  Condorcet's  Esquisse  des  progres  de  VEsprit 
humain] . — This  is  the  pure  philosophy  of  the  Encyclopedists ; — 
and  doubtless  Chenier  would  have  developed  it  otherwise  than  did 
his  friend  Le  Brun; — but  no  philosophy  is  further  removed  not 
merely  from  that  of  the  Romanticists  who  are  about  to  appear  on 
the  scene  ; — but  even  from  that  of  Rousseau. 

Andre  Chenier's  Idylles ; — and  that  without  doubt  it  is  not  the 
inspiration  of  Oaristys  or  of  the  Jeune  Malade, — that  differs  from 
that  of  Hermes  or  of  the  Elegies ; — at  least  if  this  latter  inspiration 
be  taken  as  just  defined. — But  as  Andre  Chenier  is  in  immediate 
touch  with  Greek  literature ; — and  is  in  deep  sympathy  with  Alex- 
andrinism ; — if  not  with  the  antiquity  of  Sophocles,  Pindar,  and 
Homer ; — by  dint  of  imitating  his  models  his  verse  has  a  strength 
which  the  inconsistent,  colourless  verse  of  his  rivals  lacks ; — but  his 
poetry  is  not  on  this  account  in  contradiction  with  the  ideas  of  his 


376    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Figaro?  It  is  a  fact  that  Beaumarchais  is  scarcely  a 
man  of  letters  ;  he  is  a  man  of  business,  and  a  man  of 
business  whose  transactions  were  often  or  even  usually  of 
no  very  reputable  order.  Few,  assuredly,  of  his  contem- 
poraries were  less  versed  than  he  in  the  ancients,  who  were 
quite  unknown  to  the  society  he  frequents.  His  case, 
however,  is  only  the  more  interesting  on  this  account, 
and  his  example  the  more  significant.  For  so  long 
as  he  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Diderot  and  Sedaine — 
in  his  Eugenie  (1716)  of  which  he  laid  the  scene  in 
England,  and  in  the  Deux  amis  (1770) — he  did  but  poor 
work.  However,  after  producing  those  Memoires,  whose 
spiritedness  excited  the  jealousy  of  Voltaire — and  the  work 
indeed  would  be  wholly  in  the  classic  tradition  but  f6r 
its  shortcomings  in  the  matter  of  good  taste  and  in  par- 
ticular of  good  manners — it  occurs  to  him  to  be  the  third 

time. — Or  rather,  while  resembling  his  contemporaries  in  every  other 
respect, — he  is  distinguished  from  them  solely  by  a  subtler  intelligence 
of  that  antiquity  they  have  ceased  to  understand, — and  by  the  fact 
that  he  combined  their  admiration  for  their  own  time, — with  an 
artistic  sense  which  finds  utterance  in  the  proverbial  line  : 

Let  us  express  new  thoughts  in  verse  such  as  the  ancients  wrote. 

Moreover  Chenier's  doctrines  are  in  entire  conformity  with  the 
character  of  his  work,  as  is  proved, — by  his  protests  against  "  Anglo- 
mania" : — "  The  English  poets  .  .  .  sad  as  their  ever  cloud-girt  sky, 
swollen  as  the  sea  that  washes  their  shores,  sombre  and  heavy ;  .  .  ." 
— and  still  more  by  the  fourth  of  his  Epitres  addressed  to  Le  Brun ; — 
or  again  by  his  Poeme  de  I' Invention  ; — the  precepts  in  which  are  pre- 
cisely those  of  Boileau  ; — but  of  a  Boileau  more  emancipated,  and  in 
particular  more  cultured,  and  perhaps,  too,  more  "  aristocratic  "  than 
the  real  Boileau. — Comparison  in  this  respect  between  the  Poeme  de 
V Invention  and  the  Art  poetique ; — and  the  Defense  et  Illustration 
de  la  Langue  franqaise  [Cf.  in  particular  verses  299-390]. — In 
consequence,  Ch&iier  must  in  nowise  be  regarded  as  the  "  first  of  the 
Romanticists,"  but  on  the  contrary  as  the  "last  of  the  classic 
writers." — Had  he  lived,  his  influence  would  not  perhaps  have 


THE   DEFORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  377 

writer  to  treat  the  subject  dealt  with  in  the  Folies 
amoureuses  and  the  Ecole  des  femmes  :  the  guardian  of  the 
old  comedy,  duped  by  the  eternal  ingenue.  He  gives  this 
subject  a  Spanish  background,  the  background  of  Le 
Sage's  stories  and  of  Scarron's  plays,  and  he  produces  the 
Barbier  de  Seville  (1775)  in  reading  which  we  are  re- 
minded of  Gil  Bias.  In  1783  he  repeats  his  performance, 
and  the  result  is  the  Mariage  de  Figaro.  And  whether 
Figaro  be  he,  Beaumarchias,  himself,  drawn  from  the 
life,  with  his  utter  absence  of  scruples  and  his  fund 
of  gaiety,  or,  as  some  regard  the  character,  a  "  fore- 
runner of  the  Be  volution,"  he  is  first  of  all  and  above 
all  the  valet  of  old  comedy,  the  last  and  most  enter- 
taining of  the  Frontins,  the  Crispins,  and  the  Scapins. 
Might  we  not  declare,  in  other  words,  that  directly 
Beauniarchais  followed  in  the  footsteps  or  rather  re- 

absolutely  modified  the  direction  taken  by  literature  ; — owing  to  the 
strength  of  the  movement  in  progress ; — but  it  is  certainly  in  Chenier 
that  the  disciples  and  literary  imitators  of  Eousseau  would  have 
found  their  most  redoubtable  adversary. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  works  of  Andre  Chenier  are  composed  of : 

(1)  his  poetry,   forming  three   principal   divisions :    the   Idylls,  the 
Elegies,  and  the  Poems   or  fragments   of  poems.     Students   of  his 
poetry   ought  to  consult  at  least  four  editions  :   H.    de   Latouche's 
edition,  Paris,  1819 ;  Becq  de  Fouquiere's  edition,  Paris,  1862,  Char- 
pentier  ;  G.  de  Chenier's  edition,  Paris,  1874,  Lemerre  ;  and  the  last 
edition  issued  by  Becq  de  Fouquieres,  Paris,   1888,  Charpentier; — 

(2)  his  prose  writings,  all  or  almost  all  of  which  have  to  do  with 
politics ; — and   (3)    of    a   somewhat   brief  but   extremely  important 
Commentary  on  Malherbe,  first  published  in  1842,  in  the  standard 
edition  of  Malherbe's  works  (Paris,  Charpentier). 

VII.— Georges-Louis  Leclerc  de  Buffon  [Montbard,  1707 ; 
f  1788,  Paris.] 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Grimm,  Correspondance  litteraire  ; — Herault 
de  Sechelles,  Voyage  a  Montbard,  Paris,  1785 ; — Vicq  d'Azyr,  Dis- 
cours  de  reception,  1788  ;  — Condorcet,  filoge  de  M.  le  Comte  de  Buffon, 


378    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

sumed  the  traditions  of  Regnard  and  Moliere  he  met 
with  the  success  he  had  in  vain  sought  to  achieve  by 
imitating  Sedaine  and  Diderot  ?  And  what  is  more 
characteristic  of  the  movement  of  which  we  are  endeav- 
ouring to  determine  the  nature  ?  Apart  from  Voltaire's 
last  pamphlets  and  the  concluding  volumes  of  Buffon's 
Histoire  naturelle,  which  are  "  continuations,"  only  two 
"novelties"  destined  to  survive  appeared  between  1775 
and  1785,  two  comedies  whose  inspiration  is  certainly 
"  classic,"  whatever  opinion  be  held  with  regard  to  their 
qualities  or  their  shortcomings. 

Towards  the  same  period,  tragedy,  like  comedy,  harks 
back  to  its  original  sources  of  inspiration,  though  with 
less  happy  results,  in  this  sense  that  it  has  left  us  nothing, 
I  will  not  say  comparable  to  the  Barrier  de  Seville  or  the 
Mariage  de  Figaro,  but  nothing  that  will  bear  reading 

to  be  found  in  vol.  iii.  of  Condorcet's  complete  works ; — Cuvier, 
Rapport  historique  sur  les  progres  des  sciences  naturelles,  Paris, 
1810 ; — Flourens,  Histoire  des  travaux  et  des  idees  de  Buffon,  Paris, 
1844  ;  and  Des  manuscrits  de  Buffon,  1859. 

Correspondance  inedite  de  Buffon,  edited  by  Henri  Nadault  de 
Buffon,  Paris,  1860. 

Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  iv.,  1851 ;  vol.  x.,  1854 ;  and 
vol.  xiv.,  1860; — Emile  Montegut,  Souvenirs  de  Bourgogne,  1874, 
Paris ; — F.  Hemon,  Eloge  de  Buffon,  Paris,  1878 ; — N.  Michaut, 
Eloge  de  Buffon,  Paris,  1878; — C.  d'Haussonville,  Le  salon  de  Mme 
NecJcer,  Paris,  1882 ;— Emile  Faguet,  XVIIP  siecle,  Paris,  1890;— 
De  Lanessan's  introduction  to  his  edition  of  Buffon's  works,  1884  ; — 
Eclm.  Perrier,  La  Philosophic  zoologique  avant  Darwin,  Paris,  1884. 

2.  THE  MAN  OF  SCIENCE  AND  THE  PHILOSOPHER. 

A.  Buffon's  early  years. — His  birth  and  education. — Dijon  as  an 
intellectual  centre  during  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century 
[Of.  Th.  Foisset,  Le  President  de  Brosses,  1842 ;  and  Em.  de 
Broglie,  Les  Portefeuilles  du  President  Bouliier,  1896]. — The 
Angers  duel, — and  Buffon's  friendship  with  the  Duke  of  Kingston 
[Cf.  Desnoiresterres,  Epicuriens  et  Lettres  au  XVIIP  siecle,  1879]. 
— Buffon's  travels,  1730-1732  [Cf.  his  correspondence]. — His  first 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  379 

at  the  present  day.  After  having  gone  the  round  of  the 
universe,  having  sought  for  subjects  in  Mexico,  Peru, 
China,  Malabar,  and  even  in  New  Zealand,  and  having 
explored  every  epoch  of  the  national  history  in  quest  of 
something  new,  tragedy  at  the  finish  returns  to  the 
Greeks  and  Komans,  and  again  offers  us  plays  whose 
heroes  are  Coriolanus  and  Virginia,  Hypermnestra  and 
Philoctetes.  It  is  admitted  that  the  "simplicity  of  the 
ancients  is  still  capable  of  serving  as  a  lesson  to  our 
luxury,  a  word  that  may  be  fitly  used,  says  Laharpe, 
in  connection  with  our  tragedies,  which  we  have  made  at 
times  somewhat  too  ornate."  The  same  writer  opines 
that  "our  overweening  delicacy,  in  its  desire  to  ennoble 
all  it  touches,  may  cause  us  to  overlook  the  charm  of 
primitive  nature " ;  and  he  concludes  that  while  it  is 
doubtless  a  mistake  "  to  imitate  the  Greeks  in  everything, 

Memoir  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences ; — he  is  appointed  assistant  to 
the  mechanical  section  of  that  body  ; — and  his  translation  of  Hale's 
work  on  vegetable  statics,  1735. — He  is  appointed  "  Intendant  of  the 
King's  Garden,"  1739  ; — he  devotes  himself  exclusively  to  natural 
history ; — and  brings  to  bear  on  his  studies  the  independent  spirit 
and  wide  curiosity  characteristic  of  the  men  of  his  time ; — the 
qualities  of  his  own  well-balanced  Burgundian  temperament ; — a 
temperament  not  without  analogies  to  that  of  Bossuet ; — his  genius 
for  assimilation ; — his  wealth  of  imagination ; — and  his  elevated  style. 
— The  three  first  volumes  of  the  Histoire  naturelle. 

Of  Buffon's  style ; — and  does  it  deserve  the  sharp  criticism  of 
which  it  has  been  the  object ; — or  the  jokes  in  doubtful  taste 
that  are  still  made  at  its  expense ; — on  account  of  the  occasional 
occurrence  in  it  of  rather  pompous  sentences, — or  somewhat  garish 
touches  ? — Buffon's  co-workers :  Daubenton,  Bexon,  Gueneau  de 
Montbeillard ; — and  his  method  of  correcting  them  [Cf.  Flourens, 
Manuscrits  de  Buffon}. — On  the  other  hand,  his  frigid  treatment  of 
some  of  the  great  scenes  he  has  described  or  imagined  has  also  been 
reproached  him  [Cf.  Em.  Montegut,  Souvenirs  de  Bourgogne~\  ; — 
a  fact  that  might  tempt  one  to  say  that  these  criticisms  counterbalance 
or  annul  each  other. — It  is  more  accurate,  however,  to  say  that  they 


38BO  3UJKIML  OOF  THE  IHUTMBIV  DBF 


siiwioilf  ttfec  natural!  3HnUimtu 


.  ttfeea  •  eanatts  na*  •  nraraer  rnBflfei  ;  ttiaa  ttiatr   . 
IMS  iin  ttiMcr  lieesi  mite:"  Of;  .  Hatiacgft,   Obdirr 


r.    tiaa  tra^dtyv  •  -n  rceoxnin^  to  ii 

:  i'wr  itfr-  sficn^n^Bc  rufflimfii  rfae 

idiicnKai^l  5E«^^ 
lirtrr  cdii  (jrtnibeain  'i&  i3?ce«Beoairt;.  ii>  ttice  atinMtT  eaaoto 
XD  •  ht  fcmiwr  <;caiffl««ib8«WBcn^rtifc  rta^prA 


odi  ctici-  llevnimiraa  I-OE  ;nitt- 
aa  ssep  ftncttifir.  .  fear;  .  a«s  iis  ^reili  liMmu;  tiiey 
n  rrauiifc  iiie  ant:  oar  the  Hftmaa: 
.  tiw;  om  tfa«s  GBrEeite^  aawi  B^aaaaai 


On  rfae  rnreKPttmfr  isanlticcr  wniec;'  .aR  gsac;  .aaiii  the 
-authojor.  '  ij':  ttiet  rinui  Qsaaeeoedtl  oii'  :ia±ic$icc  feeding  . 


lUMf  ml  ......  >:r^bct;«>^faa3  UtfUac;  soi^r 

t«o  fiil:  rrtfawr  liliil^  wfefc:  vne,  ,tuxriA  eowset:  -«bett 

fter 
to 

r»*tumia«r  in 

tiret   fnatiiigo.,     UttlTMr.   inanxxrer.  COT 
aeceesarr  :  —  HJO*  rto  .  aaOBWHoif  tJu.si' 


HHBOB  ino«e>  ^faajoi  onsr  JOCOABJO 


o    mcMM 

-'  •  : 


OI:  .tfaes  Itynqiue 
3;.  rUu€  .-tuccsmtc 

iuow  tblia- 


.(iftaa,-—  a-otn  LTW  to  ina  life  is.-  cte.  -srocn  eannrfv  'Jif   ^ 
'ii    i  diili.  I*   feefci    tor.  1*  ;irtifctai;—  t««i.  in 


imn  :  trf:  ina-  ranik 
TfTf      I    i     film    iMha  irfTllii 


u, 


further  l»^k  Mill  to  the  very  beg«'  f  <<|  **«!<•< 

refe*  to  Andre  Chattier,  id  whom  lton*nnl  in 
lie  Mid  to  live  again.  The  temptai  ion  i«  great  t<,  dwell  M 
length  on  Andr4  Clrfnier.  but  hi«  work  id  po*thutuouii,  and 
we  can  only  »-..M«,.ior  Mm  here  a*  representative  of  the 
toteUectti*!  ^tMlwwiwi  of  hiti  «<int«tn^inirt««  or  of  tmm  of 
hi»  oonk»inpomri^.  At  \e**l  we  (^-n  wiy  thut  his  in<!pim- 
tiofl,  like  Hurt  of  HonMird*  WM  purely  Lutin  nod  Greek. 
Like  l{<»n«Anl.  too.  hut  with  »  ole»rer  CHinwkniMieMP  of 
the  r«--ic.,i,c  for  hia  choice,  he  ftppiiex!  hiuinelf  in  p»rtieul»r 
to  the  imitation  of  the  erotk?  Latin  writer*  and  of  the 
poet*  of  the  Alexandrian  school,  Like  Honaard,  he  held 
that  all  beauty,  all  perfection  w**  wntained  in  the 
fiMoterpKHx*  of  the  ancient  o.  and  in  oon»equemH>.  like 
Honsard.  he  belieted  all  invention,  all  genius  even,  to 
in  clothing  hie  thought  in  their  immortaJ  fonu» 


ttMte*  *—  f**rih(t  frwn  "dotiMwUo"  «niin«ls  k,  "wild" 
•ite)in    "wiW"  <uiktMl9  k«  "  w»rnive»roa«  "   Miinml*  :—  «r  frviu 
to  IM  Ml*  «f  gtt  44    C^nHwni;—  «>d   fwin   tii«    OW 
*****  **  ptwwding  whk»h  Mitoitate  It 
erf  tttfeu*  to 


•  '•  •       •         v  ..  • 

.  in  UM»  tn«iiniita«,  erf  «ook>gi<i«l  f(*ogr»phT.  —  ln»  pwt.. 
l*  trf  tM.  Nw  World  M*  m4  tb*  AMM  M  thow  .  ' 


M  )—    »,  Kixni      not  th»  *M»*.  ili^jr  «tf«  •ftilnpMij    till 


,—  To  «xp]«in  thvi*  pb«noto«tM  be 

ItM  tto  oih«.r  urtiy  opwi  to  him  tiiMi  to  n«»*  rwourw  to  Uw 
trf  «&fflft*»<  food.  And  the  riruJry  Mtrwn  tlw  diffmnt 
to  aMHbtito  to  tMtfeu*  ii  grt«l«r  j-lnHiriiT  th«m  he  hud  d  ^- 

(I  ki  »i  thii,  period  Umi  hi*  Wen*  mort  elowlv  nwnnble  wh«*  will  one 
i*y  be  the  ide<m  erf  DwvteMl  »pH«  of  the  f«rt  Umi  b»  tf* 
ponUnue*  to  rapfi  flMtt  «•  »   betog  jjj^ijli^  »  {&««  ^^^ 
n**«re  [Of.  hi»  nomefX'Utnr*  of  HKnik«T««]  .—  FlnuJlr,  between  1704 
Ml  17W  further  new  ideM  otwir  to  him  ^-whleh  be  oppow»  to  thc«e 


382    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 
Let  us  express  new  thoughts  in  verse  such  as  the  ancients  wrote. 

A  Pagan  like  Konsard,  as  profoundly  Pagan  in  his  Idylles 
as  the  author  of  the  Hymnes  and  of  the  Sonnets  a  Cas- 
sandre,  he  loved,  he  was  affected  by,  he  conceived  nature 
in  the  same  way  as  Ronsard.  Sensual  and  voluptuous  as 
Eonsard  was,  his  melancholy,  like  that  of  Ronsard,  scarcely 
differed  from  that  of  the  great  Epicureans.  And  why 
should  it  not  be  said  that  he  was  a  completer  Ronsard 
than  even  Ronsard  himself,  if  over  and  above  Ronsard 
he  represents  the  reaction  against  Malherbe  and  the 
protest  of  the  subjective  against  the  objective  school  ? 
It  is  for  these  reasons,  that  if  it  had  been  possible  to 
resuscitate  Classicism,  the  feat  would  doubtless  have  been 
achieved  by  this  son  of  a  Grecian  mother.  But  was  the 
resuscitation  of  Classicism  possible  ? 

We  do  not  think  so,  and  for  more  reasons  than  one, 

of  Rousseau  [Cf.  vols.  vi.  and  vii.] . — He  now  has  a  greater  mastery 
of  his  subject. — New  views  abound  in  his  work. — He  writes  the 
Epoques  de  la  nature ; — and  as  he  becomes  more  and  more  con- 
vinced of  man's  insignificance  in  nature ; — of  the  humbleness  of  our 
position ; — and  of  the  irrevocableness  of  the  laws  to  which  we  are 
subjected  ; — he  seems  to  set  a  higher  value  on  society  ; — an  attitude 
that  again  brings  him  into  agreement  with  the  general  ideas  of  his 
contemporaries ; — and  with  that  religion  of  humanity  with  which  they 
were  all  of  them  imbued  by  this  time. 

C.  Buff  on1  s  influence. — This  is  the  place  to  examine  what  Buff  on 
taught  his  contemporaries  ; — and  to  begin  with,  from  a  purely  literary 
point  of  view,  whether  his  Discours  sur  le  style, — which  is  merely 
the  speech  he  delivered  on  the  occasion  of  his  reception  at  the 
Academy, — is  as  important  as  it  is  sometimes  held  to  be  ? — In  any 
case  there  are  two  passages  in  it  that  are  ill  understood  and  on  which 
a  meaning  almost  the  opposite  of  that  intended  is  put :  "  The  style 
is  the  man " ; — Buffon  meant  by  this  that  since  ideas  belong  to 
nobody  in  particular, — the  expression  we  give  them  is  our  only  means 
of  appropriating  them ; — and  the  passage  in  which  he  advises  writers 
to  make  use  of  none  but  "  the  most  general  terms." — The  most 


THE    DEFORMATION   OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  383 

the  first  being  that  it  had  existed  for  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years.  Nothing  human  is  eternal,  and  strive  as  it  may  to 
render  the  eternal  aspect  of  its  subject  matter,  every 
artistic  ideal  is  subject  to  that  decay  which  is  the  universal 
law.  In  the  second  place,  if  Classicism — as  we  have 
shown,  or  at  least  as  we  have  endeavoured  to  show  was 
the  case — owed  its  definite  shape  as  much  to  social  as  to 
literary  considerations,  it  was  inevitable  that  it  should 
perish  as  the  result  of  the  exaggeration  of  its  own  prin- 
ciple, or  in  other  words  that  it  should  follow  the  fortunes 
of  the  society  of  which  it  was  the  expression.  It  is  much 
in  the  same  way  that  the  genius  of  the  great  masters 
of  Italian  painting  was  unable  to  prevent  their  art  ending 
in  the  rhetoric  of  the  Carracci,  or,  the  world  having 
changed,  to  hinder  their  Humanism  being  supplanted  by 
Dutch  naturalism.  Finally,  if  French  Classicism,  as 
represented  in  its  masterpieces,  had  been  nothing  more,  so 

general  terms  are  in  nowise  vague  or  abstract  terms,  but  "  non- 
technical "  terms ; — and  to  say  with  Buffon  that  what  is  most 
personal  about  an  author  is  his  manner  of  writing, — does  not  for  a 
moment  convey  that  an  author's  personality  is  absolutely  reflected  in 
his  style. — There  are  writers  whose  character  did  not  correspond  to 
their  style ; — and  we  have  cited  more  than  one  example. 

In  the  case  of  Buffon  himself  it  was  more  especially  his  ideas  that 
influenced  his  contemporaries, — or,  more  accurately,  the  consequences 
of  his  ideas  ; — for  nobody  has  done  more  than,  or  as  much  as  Buffon, — 
to  make  us  feel  the  insignificance  of  our  planet ; — and  the  boundless 
immensity  of  the  universe  ; — considerations  whose  outcome  could  not 
fail  to  be  the  destruction  of  the  very  foundations  of  humanism, — so 
far  as  they  were  bound  up  with  the  supposition  that  man  is  nature's 
masterpiece; — and  that  the  earth  is  the  centre  of  the  world. — 
Another  consequence  of  the  diffusion  of  Buffon's  ideas ; — and  a 
consequence  almost  more  important, — as  tending  to  a  revolution  in 
scientific  methods, — was  to  bring  men  to  regard  the  natural  instead 
of  the  mathematical  sciences  as  typical  of  science ; — to  substitute, 
that  is,  the  results  of  experience  and  observation  for  those  of  calcula- 
tion and  meditation ; — a  change  of  attitude  which,  while  giving  a 


384    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF  FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

to  speak,  than  the  imprint  left  by  the  French  genius  on 
universal  literature,  it  is  inconceivable  that  it  could  have 
avoided  being  driven  back  behind  its  own  frontiers  owing 
to  the  very  progress  of  that  literature,  and  thus  perishing 
as  the  result  of  its  own  triumph.  The  generally  accepted 
ideal  throughout  Europe  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
Classicism  could  only  endure  so  long  as  this  Europe 
itself  endured ;  but  this  Europe  passing  away,  it  was 
impossible  that  Classicism  should  not  be  transformed  and 
disorganised  and  at  last  disappear  along  with  it. 

The  truth  is,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  clearly  in  view 
the  fact  that  there  was  something  contradictory  in 
the  dream  of  Andre  Chenier.  To  "  express  new 
thoughts  in  verse  such  as  the  ancients  wrote "  is, 
as  he  proves  in  his  own  person,  an  impossible  feat, 
for  while  in  Oaristys  or  the  Mendiant  there  are 
assuredly  lines  in  the  manner  of  the  ancients,  what  do 

new  and  "  biological "  trend  to  human  curiosity  brought  into  existence 
a  new  mode  of  thinking ; — the  effects  of  which  have  still  to  be 
exhausted  [Cf.  Ernest  Haeckel's  History  of  Creation] . 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  mistake  has  been  made  in  all  editions  of 
Buffon,  the  first  included  [Paris,  1749-1804] ,  of  endeavouring  to 
justify  the  title  he  himself  chose  for  his  great  work,  and  to  this  end  of 
printing  along  with  his  own  work,  and  mixed  up  with  it,  the  work  due 
to  those  who  continued  his  labours  so  as  to  form  a  "  Complete  Course 
of  Natural  History."  It  is  of  importance  in  consequence  to  point 
out  what  really  belongs  to  Buffon  in  the  127  volumes  of  Sonnini's 
edition,  1798-1807 ; — or  in  the  90  volumes  of  the  edition  published 
from  1752  to  1805  ; — or  in  the  44  quarto  volumes  of  the  first  edition. 
It  comprises : 

The  Theorie  de  la  terre ;  the  Histoire  de  Vhomme  and  the 
Histoire  des  quadrupedes,  15  vols.  in  4to,  written  in  collaboration 
with  Daubenton  so  far  as  regards  the  anatomical  portion,  1749- 
1767. 

The  Histoire  des  oiseaux,  9  vols.  in  4to,  in  collaboration  with  the 
Abbe  Bexon  and  Gueneau  de  Montbeillard,  1770-1783. 

The  Epoques  de  la  nature,  1778. 


THE    DEFOKMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC   IDEAL  385 

these  poems  offer  in  the  shape  of  "  new  thoughts  "  ?  In 
the  same  way,  it  is  not  for  a  writer  who  has  ceased  to 
feel  and  think  after  the  fashion  of  Corneille  or  Racine 
to  take  their  tragedies  as  his  model :  it  is  impossible 
to  acquire  the  secret  of  their  manner,  while  neglecting 
their  fundamental  ideas.  That  they  attempted  this  im- 
possibility was  the  cardinal  mistake  of  the  men  who  may 
be  termed  the  pseudo-Classicists  of  the  revolutionary 
period, — Marie-Joseph  Chenier,  Gabriel  Legouve,  Nepo- 
mucene  Lemercier,  and  how  many  others  besides, — writers 
who  were  not  absolutely  wanting  either  in  talent  or  ideas, 
and  whose  rhapsodies,  nevertheless,  were  only  surpassed, 
as  regards  the  mediocrity  of  their  style  and  the  abject 
poverty  of  their  matter,  by  the  verbose  eloquence  of  a 
Robespierre  or  a  Saint-Just — than  which,  however,  they 
did  less  harm.  And  be  it  not  said  that  literature  "  is 
silent"  in  times  of  civil  discord.  The  theatres  and  the 

The  Histoire  cles  mineraux,  5  vols.  in  4to,  in  collaboration  with 
Andre  Thouin,  1783-1788. 

And  finally  seven  volumes  of  Supplements,  published,  the  two  first 
1774-1775,— the  third  in  1776 ;— the  fourth  in  1777,— and  the  three 
last  1782-1789. — The  best  edition  is  M.  de  Lanessan's,  Paris,  1884,  Le 
Vasseur. 

II.— Jean-Antoine-Nicolas  Caritat,  Marquis  de  Condorcet 

[Ribemont,  1743  ;  f  1794,  Bourg-la-Eeine]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Condorcet's  manuscripts  preserved  in  the  library 
of  the  French  Institute ; — F.  Arago's  biography  of  Condorcet  preced- 
ing   his    edition    of   the   works,   Paris,    1847-1849 ; —  Sainte-Beuve, 
Causeries  da  lundi,  vol.  iii.,  1859  ; — Charma,  Condorcet,  so,  vie  et  ses 
ceuvres,  1863  ; — Ch.  Henry,  Correspondance  inedite  de  Condorcet  et 
de  Turgot,  Paris,  1883  ; — M.  Gillet,  L'utopie  de   Condorcet,  Paris, 
1883 ; — F.    Picavet,    Les    Ideologues,    Paris,    1891 ;  —  Dr.    Eobinet, 
Condorcet,  sa  vie  et  son  ozuvre,  Paris,  1895 ; — Guillois,  Madame  de 
Condorcet,  Paris,  1896. 

2.  THE  PHILOSOPHER  ; — and  that  it  may  be  that  he  has  not  as  yet  been 
impartially  judged ; — seeing  that  he  is  almost  the  only  Encyclopedist, — 

26 


386    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

booksellers  were  as  busy  during  the  storm  and  stress  of 
the  Revolution  as  were,  of  course,  the  orators.  But  with 
an  entire  misapprehension  of  the  diversity  of  successive 
periods,  and  of  the  conditions  to  which  eloquence  and 
literature  are  subject,  the  men  of  the  time  considered  it 
was  possible  to  borrow  the  style  of  generations  whose  ideas 
they  had  ceased  to  share,  and  held  that  masters,  whose 
supremacy  was  no  longer  acknowledged  in  the  domain  of 
thought,  might  still  be  appealed  to  as  guides  in  the  art 
of  writing.  It  is  found  in  consequence  that  the  three 
men — Condorcet,  Buffon,  and  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre 
— who  continue  to  exert  an  influence  on  opinion  during 
the  closing  years  of  the  century,  the  years  of  the  slow 
agony  of  classicism,  have  a  single  trait  in  common — 
they  have  broken  resolutely  with  the  past. 

It  has  been  said  of  Condorcet  "that  he  was  the  superior 
product  of  the  civilisation  of  the  eighteenth  century,"  and 

and  even  almost  the  only  Girondin,  proscribed  though  he  was  with  the 
rest  of  the  party  ; — who  has  not  benefited  by  a  sort  of  amnesty  that 
is  accorded  the  Encyclopedists  on  account  of  the  persecutions  they 
never  suffered  [Of.  above  the  articles  dealing  with  the  Encyclopedia]  ; 
— and  the  Girondins  because  want  of  time  did  not  allow  of  their  show- 
ing themselves  in  their  true  light  [Cf.  Edmond  Eire,  La  legende  des 
Girondins]. — Whether  the  explanation  of  the  treatment  the  "  Marquis 
de  Condorcet "  has  met  with  does  not  lie  in  the  facts  that  he  was  un- 
true to  his  birth  ? — that  the  amiable  woman  who  bore  his  name 
acquitted  herself  ill  of  the  task  of  defending  and  keeping  up  his 
memory  [Cf.  Guillois,  Madame  de  Condorcet}  '? — and  that  while  a 
talented  man  in  some  respects,  he  was  a  foolish  one  in  others. — The 
truth  is  a  greater  measure  of  fanaticism  and  of  credulity  ; — even  of 
naivete  ; — have  never  been  combined  in  one  individual,  nor  has  there 
ever  been  a  man  who  concealed  in  quite  a  natural  manner  less  real 
originality  behind  a  more  considerable  fund  of  science  and  intelligence. 
— Still,  and  without  any  reference  to  his  scientific  labours  proper, — 
his  edition  of  the  Pensees  and  his  Panegyric  of  Pascal,  1776,  together 
with  his  great  edition  Voltaire, — the  edition  known  as  Kehl's  edition, 
the  promoter  of  which  was  Beaumarchais, — are  among  the  most 


THE   DEFOKMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  387 

beyond  doubt  he  is  the  embodiment  of  what  is  best  and 
worst  in  the  encyclopedic  doctrine.  He  might  also  be 
termed  a  fanatical  Fontenelle  were  it  not  for  the  incon- 
gruity of  coupling  fanaticism  with  the  name  of  the  author 
of  the  Entretiens,  A  disciple  of  Voltaire,  a  very  intimate 
friend  of  Turgot,  a  member  of  the  French  Academy, 
and  perpetual  secretary  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences, 
it  will  scarcely  be  held  that  his  scientific  labours  bear 
witness  to  any  great  originality  or  erudition  ;  while  he 
has  never  been  esteemed  a  great  writer.  Still,  even 
to-day  he  exerts  a  potent  influence  on  the  lives  of 
Frenchmen,  since  the  organisation  of  the  national  system 
of  education  should  be  traced  in  reality  to  his  Memoires 
sur  ^instruction  publique,  a  work  whose  excellence 
may  best  be  appreciated  by  comparing  it,  for  example, 
with  the  writings  of  his  friend  Cabanis.  Then  he  is  the 
author  of  the  famous  Esquisse  d'une  histoire  desprogres  de 

interesting  evidence  that  exists  of  the  state  of  men's  minds  on  the 
eve  of  the  French  Revolution ; — a  fact  which  alone  lends  Condorcet 
a  considerable  "representative"  value. — A  further  point  is  that  his 
influence  is  still  felt  in  France ; — since  it  was  he  in  reality  who 
organised  or  inspired  the  French  system  of  public  education; — 
while  to  gauge  the  worth  of  his  ideas  on  this  matter  it  is  sufficient 
to  compare  them  with  those,  for  example,  of  his  friend  Cabanis. — 
The  programme  of  studies  followed  in  French  schools  at  the  present 
day  is  conceived  in  the  spirit  of  Condorcet 's  views  on  education. — 
Finally  his  Esquisse  d'une  histoire  des  progres  de  V esprit  humain ; 
— which  does  honour  to  his  courage  and  to  his  strength,  or 
rather  his  serenity  of  character ; — if  he  wrote  it,  as  is  said,  when  in 
hourly  expectation  of  being  guillotined ; — remains  a  work  of  capital 
importance  in  the  history  of  modern  thought, — European  as  well  as 
French, — owing  to  the  precision  of  outline,  the  wide  diffusion,  and  the 
strong  impulsion  it  gave  the  idea  of  Progress. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Neglecting  his  scientific,  economic,  and  political 
works,  which  cannot  be  considered  as  belonging  to  the  history  of 
literature  owing  to  the  absolute  lack  of  any  originality  in  their  con- 
tents and  of  any  merit  in  their  style,  there  only  remain  for  mention  : 


388    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

I 'esprit  humain,  of  which  it  may  be  said  that  if  other 
books  have  expressed  the  idea  of  progress  with  greater 
eloquence,  few  have  done  so  with  more  persuasiveness. 
His  contemporaries  were  fully  alive  to  the  value  of  the 
work,  and  the  National  Convention  was  well  aware  of 
what  it  was  about,  when  it  decreed  [April  2,  1795],  on 
the  recommendation  of  Daunou,  the  "  sage,"  that  the 
volume  should  be  printed  at  the  public  expense  and  distri- 
buted "  throughout  the  territory  of  the  Kepublic."  It  will 
be  admitted  that  if  the  progress  of  science  be  accepted,  as 
it  was  by  Condorcet,  as  the  measure  of  progress  in  general, 
it  is  difficult  not  to  be  struck  by  the  advance  of  human 
knowledge.  The  religious  veneration  for  science  still 
entertained  at  the  present  day  was  founded  by  Condor- 
cet's  Esquisse,  which  transmitted  to  posterity  in  portable 
and  handy  form  all  the  mingled  error  and  truth  con- 
tained in  the  encyclopedic  doctrine. 

(1)  His  academical  panegyrics  (Eloges),  some  of  which  are  very 
nteresting ;  (2)  His  Eloge  de  Blaise  Pascal ; — his  Vie  de  M.  Turgot ; 
— and  his  notes  to  Kehl's  edition  of  Voltaire — the  majority  of  which 
are  reproduced  in  Beuchot's  edition ;  (3)  His  Esquisse  d'une  histoire 
des  progres  de  I 'esprit  humain ;  (4)  His  Memoires  sur  Vinstruction 
p oblique ;  and  (5)  His  Correspondence. 

The  best,  or  it  may  be  said  the  only,  edition  of  Condorcet's  works  is 
that  edited  by  Arago,  Paris,  1847-1849,  Firinin-Didot. 

X. — Jacques-Henri  Bernardin  de-Saint-Pierre  [Le  Havre, 

1737;  t  1814,  Eragny]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES.— Airne  Martin,  Essai  sur  la  vie  et  les  ouvrages 
de  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre,  preceding  his  edition  of  the  works, 
Paris,  1818  and  1826 ;— Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre's  correspondence, 
edited  by  Akne  Martin,  together  with  the  latter's  Supplement  aux 
Memoires  de  so,  vie,  Paris,  1826  [In  consulting  this  Supplement, 
as  in  reading  the  Essai,  it  must  be  remembered  that  Airae^  Martin 
married  the  widow  of  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre]  ; — Villemain, 
Litterature  francaise  au  XVIII*  siecle ; — Saint-Beuve,  Portraits 
litteraires,  vol.  i. ;  Chateaubriand  et  son  groupe  litteraire,  vol.  i. ;  and 


THE   DEFORMATION   OF   THE   CLASSIC   IDEAL  389 

Buffon,  by  his  Histoire  naturelle,  also  aided  in  propa- 
gating this  veneration  for  science.  The  Encyclopedists 
had  been  parsimonious  in  their  praise  of  him,  and  not  to 
refer  to  the  treatment  he  received  at  the  hands  of  Grimm, 
he  is  caricatured,  and  spitefully  caricatured,  in  the 
portraits  the  vapid  Marmontel  has  left  of  him  in  his 
Memoirs  [Cf.  Marmontel,  Memoires,  bk.  vi.j .  A  new 
generation,  however,  had  already  done  him  greater 
justice.  The  Epoques  de  la  nature,  issued  in  1778,  raised 
Buffon  to  the  rank  he  merited.  The  Hermes  of  Andre 
Chenier  was  inspired  by  the  great  naturalist,  while 
allowing  that  the  Abbe  Delille  merely  rendered  him 
ridiculous  in  his  Trois  Regnes,  it  is  certain  that  such 
was  not  the  intention  of  the  author.  Moreover,  it 
was  Buffon's  good  fortune  that,  having  left  his  work 
incompleted,  it  was  continued  by  his  assistants,  by 
Daubenton,  Gueneau  de  Montbeillard,  Lacepede  and 

Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  vi. ; — Arvede  Barine,  Bernardin  de  Saint- 
Pierre,  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  francais  "  series,  Paris,  1891 ; — 
Fernand  Maury,  Etude  sur  la  vie  et  les  oeuvres  de  Bernardin  de 
Saint-Pierre,  Paris,  1892. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — His  family  and  education ; — his 
adventurous  youth ; — his  travels  in  Germany,  Holland,  and  Russia. — 
A  favourite  with  women  [Cf.  Maury,  Essai,  etc.] . — He  goes  to  the 
Mauritius  in  the  capacity  of  colonial  engineer,  1768. — His  return  to 
France,  1771 ; — his  quest  of  a  wife,  or  rather  of  a  dowry ; — and  his 
friendship  with  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau. — He  publishes  his  Voyage  a 
Vile  de  France,  1773 ; — a  work  which  procures  him  admittance  to 
the  society  of  Mile  de  Lespinasse, — and  of  Mme  Geoffrin ; — where 
he  makes  the  acquaintance  of  "  the  philosophers  "  ; — whose  adversary 
he  promptly  becomes  owing  to  incompatibility  of  humour ; —  and  also 
because  d'Alembert  fails  to  induce  Turgot  to  accord  him  a  pension 
and  a  post. — He  publishes  the  Etudes  de  la  nature,  1784  ;  and  Paul  et 
Virginie,  1787. — His  role  during  the  early  years  of  the  Revolution ; — 
his  appointment  as  Intendant  of  the  King's  Garden,  1792. — His 
Memoir  on  the  "  necessity  of  adjoining  a  menagerie  to  the  Horti- 
cultural Garden." — The  reorganisation  of  the  Museum  causes  the 


390    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

Lamarck,  who  were  shortly  to  be  followed  by  such 
naturalists  as  Cuvier  and  Geoffrey  Saint-Hilaire.  He  had 
brought  a  new  science  into  existence,  the  science  of 
organic  life,  and  this  fresh  department  of  knowledge  was 
about  to  be  enriched,  was  daily  being  enriched,  by  the 
discussion  of  his  bold  theories  as  much  as  by  his  dis- 
coveries themselves.  But  since  these  discoveries  and 
theories  all  tended  to  strip  man  not  precisely  of  his  rank 
in  nature — where  he  continued  to  occupy  the  first  place 
— but  of  the  sovereignty  he  assigned  himself  in  the 
natural  world,  they  could  not  fail  sooner  or  later  to 
produce  effects  analogous  to  those  which  resulted  from 
Newton's  discoveries,  making  of  the  earth,  instead  of  the 
"centre  of  the  universe,"  merely  one  of  the  "small 
planets  "  of  a  siderial  system  which  is  itself  constituted 
by  an  infinity  of  other  planets  [Cf.  E.  Haeckel's  History 
of  Creation,  chap.  i.  and  ii.] 

abolition  of  his  post. — He  is  appointed  professor  of  ethics  at  the  Ecole 
Normale  [Cf.  as  to  the  Ecole  Normale,  Picavet,  Les  ideologues, 
Paris,  1891,  and  the  Livre  du  Centenaire  de  V Ecole  normale,  Paris. 
1895] . 

Importance  of  Bemardin  de  Saint-Pierre's  role  in  literature  ; — 
and  that  he  is  eminently  representative  of  three  things  : — the  first 
attempts  to  introduce  the  exotic  element  into  descriptive  literature ; — 
the  reaction  of  the  champions  of  sentiment  against  the  abuses  of 
nationalism ; — and  the  transformation  of  the  algebraic  style  into  a  con- 
crete style  instinct  with  life  and  colour. — His  accounts  of  his  travels : — 
and  how  they  widen  the  horizon  opened  up  by  Rousseau  in  his  Nou- 
velle  Helo'ise. — The  descriptions  in  the  Voyage  a  Vile  de  France,  1773, 
and  those  in  the  Abbe  Delille's  Jardins,  1782. — Opposition  between 
the  two  writers'  manners ;  and  how  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre  supple- 
ments and  completes  Buffon. — Whether  the  principal  merit  of  Paul 
ei  Virginie  does  not  lie  in  the  novelty  of  the  background  ; — and  what 
would  remain  of  the  rather  silly  child's  idyll, — if  it  were  stripped  of 
the  seduction  and  charm  of  the  descriptive  passages  that  set  it  off 

[Cf.   Sainte-Beuve,   Chateaubriand  ef  son  groupe   litferaire,  vol.  i., 

eighth  and  ninth  lessons] . 


THE    DEFOEMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  391 

Had  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre  a  presentiment  of  some 
of  these  consequences  ?  To-day  he  is  solely  remembered 
by  a  brief  novel,  Paul  et  Virginie,  which  has  caused  the 
shedding  of  more  tears  than  the  story  of  "  Iphigenia  offered 
up  in  sacrifice  in  Aulis."  This  fate  is  inadequate  to  his 
deserts.  A  sincere  and  appreciative  moralist — though 
indeed  an  egoist,  a  schemer,  ambitious  of  success  and  a 
man  whose  gallantry  has  often  a  wheedling  tone  that  is 
unctuous  and  unpleasant — Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre  is 
an  admirable  writer.  The  delightful  and  brilliant  hues, 
or  the  delicate  and  nicely  graduated  tones  with  which  he 
lends  variety  to  his  descriptive  passages — one  is  tempted 
to  say  to  his  "palette  " — in  the  Etudes  de  la  nature  are 
too  generally  ignored.  He  aimed,  too,  at  protesting 
against  the  narrow  rationalism  of  the  Encyclopedists, 
and,  after  his  fashion,  at  preventing  his  contemporaries 
abandoning  all  belief  in  God  and  still  more  in  Provi- 

The  philosophy  of  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre ; — and  that  it  may 
almost  be  said  to  begin  and  end  with  the  idea  of  finality. — His  exag- 
gerations on  this  head  ; — already  in  the  Etudes ; — but  still  more  in 
the  Harmonies ; — which  it  is  true  did  not  appear  until  after  his  death. 
— The  cause  of  these  exaggerations  ; — and  that  they  are  the  outcome 
at  once  of  the  author's  intimate  knowledge  of  nature, — and  of  his 
intention  to  counteract  the  philosophy  of  his  century. — How  they 
led  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre  to  impeach  the  science  of  his  time  ; — 
to  subordinate  science  to  morality ; — and  morality  itself  to  aesthetics. 
— That  in  this  and  several  other  respects  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre 
forms  the  connecting  link  between  Chateaubriand  and  Eousseau  ; 
between  the  Genie  du  cJiristianisme  and  the  Profession  de  foi  du 
vicaire  Savoyard  ; — and  between  the  renovation  of  the  Christian  idea 
and  the  crisis  undergone  by  sentimentalism  in  the  second  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

Moreover  all  three  writers  mark  distinct  stages  in  the  renewal  of 
style  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  that  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
Etudes  de  la  nature  were  written  before  the  publication  of  the  Con- 
fessions and  the  Reveries  du  promeneur  solitaire  [Cf.  Correspon- 
dance,  I.  and  II.] . — Suppleness,  precision,  and  colour  of  Bernardin  de 


392    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

dence.  It  has  to  be  confessed  that  the  way  in  which 
he  set  about  this  task  is  proof  that  he  was  not  what 
was  termed  in  his  time  a  "  thinking  head."  His  use 
and  abuse  of  final  causes  is  only  too  notorious,  while, 
to  speak  plainly,  his  excessive  sentimentalism  lands  him 
in  sheer  silliness.  His  chief  misfortune,  however,  was 
to  have  been  preceded  by  Rousseau  and  followed  by 
Chateaubriand.  His  entire  work,  so  far  as  concerns  the 
thought  that  finds  expression  in  it,  or  attempts  to  find 
expression  amid  the  overgrowth  of  verbiage,  is  a  mere 
development  or  amplification  of  the  Lettre  sur  la  Pro- 
vidence. On  the  other  hand,  considered  as  a  champion 
of  the  rights  of  sentiment  he  is  merely  a  forerunner  of, 
or  is  paving  the  way  for,  the  author  of  the  Genie  du 
ckristianisme.  Similarly,  while  his  style  is  neither  as 
sober,  as  vigorous,  nor  as  eloquent  as  that  of  Rousseau, 
it  is  without  the  brilliancy,  the  beauty,  and  the  stately 

Saint-Pierre's  descriptive  style. — That  it  is  the  objects  themselves 
that  he  describes,  and  not  at  all, — or  to  quite  a  secondary  extent, 
— the  feelings  or  moods  the  objects  arouse  in  him. — Freshness, 
richness,  and  "  technicality  "  of  his  vocabulary. — Of  the  nature  of  his 
picturesqueness ; — and  that  it  is  more  especially  the  result  of  a 
faithfulness  of  imitation ; — which  obtains  broad  effects  by  processes 
of  the  kind  employed  by  the  miniaturist. 

Last  years  of  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre; — and  that  he  furnishes 
another  good  example  of  the  writers  whose  character  has  been 
strangely  different  to  their  style  [Cf.  P.  Maury,  Bernardin  de  Saint- 
Pierre]  . — His  lectures  at  the  Ecole  Normale,  1795  ; — and  his  election 
to  the  Institute  ; — he  works  at  his  Harmonies  de  la  nature. — His 
Mart  de  Socrate  [a  fragment  of  the  Harmonies]  and  his  Memoire  sur 
la  nature  de  la  morale,  1798. — His  relations  with  Bonaparte  and 
Chateaubriand. — His  second  marriage  ; — and  the  light  which  the 
circumstances  under  which  it  was  contracted  throw  upon  his 
character  ; — and  how  Aime  Martin,  his  secretary,  and  the  second 
husband  of  his  widow, — has  made  of  him  the  "  respectable  and 
virtuous  personage "  he  is  populai-ly  believed  to  have  been. — The 
great  edition  of  Paul  et  Virginie,  1806  [in  4to,  Didot]  ;  — and  the 


THE    DEFORMATION    OF   THE    CLASSIC    IDEAL  398 

measure  of  the  style  of  Chateaubriand.  His  very  life, 
while  it  has  something  of  the  adventurous  character  of 
the  lives  of  Chateaubriand  and  Rousseau,  lacks  the  psy- 
chological interest  that  attaches  to  the  existence  of  Rous- 
seau, without  possessing  the  public  or  almost  political 
interest  offered  by  the  career  of  Chateaubriand.  Finally, 
whether  it  be  the  fault  of  circumstances  or  his  own 
fault,  it  cannot  be  said  of  him  that  he  either  closed  a 
finishing  or  started  a  commencing  period  in  the  history 
of  literature.  This  honour  belongs  to  Chateaubriand. 
It  is  with  Chateaubriand  that  a  really  new  period  begins, 
and  for  once  in  history,  by  the  greatest  of  hazards,  it 
happens  that  the  opening  of  the  new  period  coincides 
with  that  of  a  new  century. 

preface  "  against  the  tyrants  of  literature  and  of  common  sense."- 
His  last  controversies  and  his  death. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre's  works  comprise: 
(1)  his  novels  :  Paul  et  Virginie,  1787  ; — Arcadie,  bk.  i.,  1788  ;— the 
Chaumiere  indienne,  1790,  followed  by  the  Cafe  de  Surate ; — Ernp- 
sacl,  the  Priere  d'Abraham,  and  the  fragments  of  the  Amazone 
[posthumous,  as  are  also  the  fragments  of  Arcadie,  bks.  ii.  and  iii.] . 

(2)  The  Etudes  de  la  nature,  1784,  which  resumed,  developed,  com- 
pleted and  exaggerated,  form  the  Harmonies  de  la  nature,  first  pub- 
lished in  1815. 

(3)  Of  his  political  works  and  a  certain  number  of  short  writings,  of 
which  the  principal  are :  Les  voeux  d'un  Solitaire,  1790 ; — and  the 
Essai  sur  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau  [1820] . 

(4)  The  Voyage  a  Vile  de  France,  1773,  and  a  certain  number  of 
notes  or  narratives  of  travel  [Holland,  Prussia,  Poland,  Russia] . 

The  best,  though  very  imperfect,  edition  of  the  works  is  that  of  Aime 
Martin  in  12  vols.  8vo,  Paris,  1826,  Dupont,  to  which  should  be 
adjoined  the  Correspondence,  also  very  incomplete,  in  4  vols.,  Paris, 
1826,  Ladvocat. 


BOOK  III 
MODERN   TIMES 


One  of  the  first  results  of  the  waning  of  the  classic 
ideal  was  necessarily  to  emancipate  "  the  individual,"  to 
restore  to  him  his  natural  independence,  and  to  make  of 
him,  in  the  words  of  the  ancient  philosopher  or  sophist, 
"the  measure  of  all  things."  The  ego,  formerly  pro- 
nounced "  hateful,"  and  as  such  kept  in  subordination, 

THE  AUTHOES   AND   THEIE   WOEKS 
FIRST  PERIOD 

From  the  Publication  of  the  "  Genie  du  Christianisme  " 
to  the  First  Performance  of  the  "  Burgraves  " 

1802-1843 

I.— Frangois-Rene  de  Chateaubriand  [Saint-Malo,  1768; 
f  1848,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Marie- Joseph  Chenier,  Tableau  de  la  litterature 
francaise  en  1810 ; — Essai  sur  la  vie  et  les  ouvrages  de  Chateaubriand, 
vol.  i.  of  Pourrat's  edition,  Paris,  1838 ; — Chateaubriand's  Prefaces  in 
the  same  edition  of  his  works ; — and  the  Memoires  d'outre-tombe, 
Eire's  edition,  Paris,  1898. 

Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  contemporains,  vol.  i.,  1834 ;  Chateau- 
briand et  son  groupe  litteraire,  1849 ;  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  i., 
1850 ;  ii.,  1850  and  1851  ;  x.,  1854  ;  and  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  iii., 

394 


MODERN   TIMES  395 

recovered  its  sovereign  rank,  and  once  more  found  in 
itself  its  object,  its  adequate  justification,  and  its  final 
cause.  Such,  as  we  have  seen,  were  the  views  of  the 
author  of  the  Confessions ;  and  the  renown  he  had  won 
seemed  to  have  proved  the  truth  of  his  opinion.  For  the 
originality  for  which  he  had  been  admired,  for  which  he 
had  been  feared,  without  its  nature  being  very  clearly  dis- 
cerned, what  else  was  it,  at  least  in  the  main,  than  his 
contempt  for  fashionable  conventions,  than  the  jealous 
care,  the  savage  obstinacy  with  which  he  had  avoided 
being  contaminated  by  current  prejudices,  than  his  violent 
assertion  of  his  personality  in  the  face  of  these  conven- 
tions and  these  prejudices  ? 

If  Eousseau,  however,  had  been  a  mere  impassioned 

1862; — A.  Vinet,  Mme  de  Stael  et  Chateaubriand,  professorial  lec- 
tures delivered  at  Lausanne  in  1844 ; — A.  Villemain,  M.  de  Cha- 
teaubriand, sa  vie,  ses  ouvrages,  et  son  influence,  Paris,  1858 ; — 
De  Marcellus,  Chateaubriand  et  son  temps,  Paris,  1859 ; — L.  de 
Lomenie,  Esquisses  biographiques  et  litteraires,  1849,  1861,  1862 ; 
— J.  Danielo,  Les  conversations  de  M.  de  Chateaubriand,  Paris,  1864 ; 
— H.  de  Bonder,  Eloge  de  Chateaubriand,  1864  ; — Em.  Faguet,  XIXe 
siecle,  Paris,  1887; — De  Lescure,  Chateaubriand  in  the  "Grands 
Ecrivains  fran9ais  "  series,  1892. 

P.  de  Saman,  Les  enchantemens  de  Prudence,  Paris,  1869  ; — A. 
France,  Lucile  de  Chateaubriand,  Paris,  1879  ; — P.  de  Raynal,  Les 
eorrespondants  de  Joubert,  Paris,  1883  ; — A.  Bardoux,  Mme  de  Beau- 
mont, Paris,  1884  ;  Mme  de  Custine,  Paris,  1888 ;  and  Mme  de  Duras, 
Paris,  1898 ; — G.  Pailhes,  Chateaubriand,  sa  femme  et  ses  amis, 
Paris,  1896 ; — Rene  Kerviler,  Essai  d'une  bio -bibliographic  de 
Chateaubriand,  Vannes,  1895. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WKITEK. — His  birth,  education,  and  early 
years  ; — and  to  what  a  slight  extent  they  throw  light  on  his  char- 
acter,— seeing  that  Lesage,  for  example,  and  Duclos  were  of  Breton 
extraction,  as  he  was  ; — that  Maupertuis  and  Lamennais  were  born, 
as  he  was,  at  Saint-Malo  ; — and  that  Bonald  and  de  Maistre  came,  as 
he  did,  of  a  good  family. — His  sub-lieutenancy  in  the  regiment  of 
Navarre,  1786 ; — his  presentation  at  court ; — his  first  stay  in  Paris  ; 
— and  his  departure  for  America,  1791. — He  returns  to  France,  but  at 


396    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

advocate  of  the  theories  of  individualism,  a  mere  "  self- 
exhibitor,"  so  to  speak,  his  cynicism  would  rather  have 
tended  to  estrange  a  certain  proportion  of  his  admirers  and 
in  particular  of  his  imitators.  It  must  on  no  account  be 
overlooked  that  when  the  Confessions  saw  the  light  in  1782, 
they  aroused  at  first  a  general  impression  of  disgust.  "  I 
am  astounded  to  think  that  I  should  have  veritably  wor- 
shipped Rousseau,"  wrote  Mme  de  Boufflers,  "  for  it 
seems  to  me  that  his  Confessions  might  be  the  work  of  a 
stable-man,  or  of  some  one  of  even  lower  rank"  [Lettre 
a  Gustave  III.,  May  1,  17821 .  A  few  years  later,  after 
the  publication  of  the  last  six  books  of  the  Confessions, 
Volney,  who  represents  the  opinion  of  a  different  circle, 
urged  the  same  objection  against  the  work  in  plainer  and 

once  joins  the  "  Emigrants,"  1792 ; — and  serves  in  Conde's  army, 
1792-1793. — His  years  of  hardship  and  privation ; — his  residence  in 
London ;— and  the  Essai  sur  les  Revolutions,  1797. — The  death  of 
his  mother,  1798 ; — and  his  conversion. — He  conceives  the  idea  of  his 
Genie  du  cliristianisme. — His  return  to  France,  1800. — Publication  of 
At ala,  1801 ; — and  of  the  Genie  du  cliristianisme,  1802. — The  second 
edition  of  this  latter  work  and  its  dedication  :  "To  the  First  Consul, 
Citizen." — Chateaubriand  is  appointed  Secretary  to  the  Embassy  at 
Rome  ; — and  French  Minister  in  the  Valais  ; — he  resigns  his  post  on 
account  of  the  execution  of  the  Due  d'Enghien. — He  commences  the 
Martyrs  and  goes  on  a  journey  to  the  East. — Publication  of  the 
Martyrs,  1809 ;  and  of  the  IHneraire  de  Paris  a  Jerusalem,  1811. — 
Elected  a  member  of  the  Academy,  1811. — The  Emperor  refuses  to 
approve  the  speech  he  was  to  have  made  at  his  reception  by  the 
Academy, — a  circumstance  which  definitely  converts  him  into  an 
irreconcilable  enemy  of  Napoleon. — His  pamphlet,  De  Buonaparte 
et  des  Bourbons,  1814 ;— and  how  its  success  forced  Chateaubriand 
to  abandon  literature  for  politics. — His  literary  work  is  now  termi- 
nated ; — whatever  additions  he  may  make  to  its  volume  ; — and  after 
the  disappointments  caused  him  by  the  Government  of  the  Restora- 
tion,— his  role  will  be  confined  during  twenty-five  years  to  observing 
the  effects  of  his  influence  ; — which  a  poet  [Th.  Gautier,  in  his  His- 
toire  du  romantisme]  has  happily  summarised  by  saying : — that  he 
"  restored  the  Gothic  cathedral  " ; — "  threw  open  to  men  the  immen- 


MODERN   TIMES  397 

stronger  terms.  Writing  in  1796,  he  deplores  the  fact 
' '  that  the  author  of  Emile,  after  having  had  so  much  to 
say  on  the  subject  of  nature,  should  not  have  imitated 
the  discretion  of  nature  who,  while  exposing  to  view  what 
is  so  designed  as  to  flatter  the  senses,  has  hidden  in  our 
bowels  and  covered  with  a  thick  veil  what  threatened  to 
shock  our  delicacy  "  [Cf.  Lemons  d'histoire  in  vol.  vi.  of 
Volney's  works] .  At  the  same  time,  however  shameless 
Eousseau  may  have  been  in  his  boastful  exposure  of  his 
shortcomings,  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  the  citizen  of 
Geneva  was  a  moralist ;  and  it  was  the  moralist  in  him 
that  the  philosophers  more  particularly  disliked,  but  that 
their  adversaries  especially  esteemed,  a  circumstance  which 
explains  how  it  comes  about  that  Rousseau,  by  a  crown- 

sity  of  nature  from  which  they  had  been  shut  off"  ; — and  "invented 
modern  melancholy." 

A.  How    Chateaubriand  widened  and    renewed  our  feeling  for 
nature; — on  the  one  hand  by  giving  the  additional  charm  of  splen- 
dour   of    colouring    to    the    still   "  monochrome  "    descriptions    of 
Rousseau ;— by  the  way  in  which   he   expanded   into   frescoes   the 
"miniatures"  of  Bernardin  de  Saint- Pierre  ; — by  the  vivid  reflection 
of  his  own  ardent  personality  he  introduced  into  his  descriptions ; — 
and  on  the  other  hand  by  the  diversity  of  the  scenery  he  sketched ; — 
now  borrowing  his  material  from  the  still  virgin  nature  of  North  and 
South  America ; — now  bringing  into  sight  the  poetry  of  the  calmer, 
temperate  nature  of  his  own  land  ; — now  indulging  in  a  melancholy, 
a   sadness,   and  a  majesty  worthy  of  the  country  round  Rome. — 
Further  he  gave  cornpleter  expression  than  any  of  his  predecessors 
to    the  secret    affinities  that   exist  between  nature  and  man ; — to 
relationships  and  "  correspondences  "  ; — which  are  themselves  repre- 
sentative of  a  relationship  still  more  remote ; — that  between  nature 
and  its  Creator ; — and  here  is  perceived  the  bond  of  union  in  his 
work  between  the  feeling  for  nature  and  the  religious  sentiment. 

B.  Of  the  apologetic  value  of  the  "  Genie  du  cliristianisme  "  ; — and 
that  to  estimate  it,  it  is  specially  necessary  to  consider  the  work  in 
connection  with  the  needs  of  its  author's  time. — The  desideratum  at 
the  period  in  question  was  to  "  reinstall  "  the  religious  sentiment  in 
its  rights  ; — while  to  counteract  the  philosophy  of  Voltaire,  it  was 


398    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF    FEENCH   LITEEATURE 

ing  and  most  characteristic  singularity,  is  at  once  the 
man  whose  Contrat  social  was  the  gospel  of  Eobespierre 
and  Babeuf,  and  the  man  who  is  found  to  be  the  intel- 
lectual ancestor  of  Mme  de  Stae'l  and  Chateaubriand. 

At  the  same  time  we  are  far  from  asserting  that  Mme 
de  Stae'l  or  Chateaubriand  refrained  from  imitating  the 
individualism  of  Rousseau.  It  would  be  hard  to  point 
to  more  "personal"  novels,  to  novels  that  is  that  more 
strongly  resemble  confessions,  than  Rene,  Delphine,  or 
Corinne.  There  were  certainly  fewer  personal  revelations 
in  the  Nouvelle  Helo'ise,  and  at  a  later  date  we  shall  not 
find  completer  or  more  sincere  confessions  in  Adolphe  or 
in  Indiana.  It  is  her  own  cause  that  Mme  de  Stae'l  pleads 
both  in  Delphine  and  in  Corinne,  while  Chactas  and 

urgently  necessary  to  define  the  role  of  Christianity  in  civilisation. — 
Chateaubriand  accomplished  this  task  by  showing  in  his  own  way 
that  art  and  literature  themselves  as  well  as  morality  are  indebted  to 
religion  for  "  new  beauties  "  ; — and  by  showing  what  Christianity  has 
done  in  the  way  of  awakening  sentiments  unknown  to  the  ancients  ; 
— and  of  procuring  human  nature  satisfactions  of  a  profound  order. — 
Proceeding  on  these  lines,  he  established  three  points,  which,  since 
his  time,  have  secured  general  adhesion ; — the  dissidents  being  con- 
fined to  some  few  freemasons ; — the  first  point  is  that  a  believer  is 
not  necessarily  a  fool  or  a  knave  ; — the  second  that  "  Voltairianism  " 
is  contrary  to  historical  truth ; — and  the  third,  that  supposing  all 
religions  to  be  false,  the  reality  of  the  "  religious  sentiment"  would 
still  subsist. 

C.  Chateaubriand's  influence  on  the  development  of  the  historical 
sentiment ; — and  that  to  appreciate  it,  it  is  sufficient  to  compare  the 
Martyrs  with  Voltaire's  Histories  ; — for  whatever  be  the  measure  of 
absolute  truth  offered  by  his  Franks,  his  Gauls,  his  Eomans  and  his 
Greeks  ; — and  the  point  is  open  to  discussion  owing  to  the  advance 
in  accuracy  of  modern  research ; — they  do  not  resemble  one  another  ; 
— a  circumstance  which  distinguishes  them  from  the  Greeks  and 
Eomans  of  pseudo-classic  tragedy. — This  amounts  to  saying  that  he 
possessed  the  art  of  "  individualising  "  historical  epochs  ; — as  he  had 
individualised  natural  scenes  ; —  a  side  of  his  talent  to  which  justice 
is  done  by  Augustin  Thierry  [Cf.  below,  the  article  AUGUSTIN 


MODEEN   TIMES  399 

Eudore  as  well  as  Rene  were  no  other  than  Chateaubriand 
himself  in  real  life.  The  Memoires  d'outre-tombe  would 
serve  to  remind  us  of  this  latter  fact  if  we  were  tempted 
to  forget  it,  and  in  the  case  of  Mme  de  Stael,  who  has 
left  no  Memoirs,  we  have  the  evidence  of  Mme  Necker 
de  Saussure  [Cf.  her  Notice  in  vol.  i.  of  Mme  de  StaeTs 
works].  "Her  object  in  writing  was  far  more  to  give 
expression  to  her  feelings  than  to  execute  works  of  art  "  ; 
or  again :  "  Corinne  represents  an  ideal  Mme  de  Stael, 
and  Delphine,  Mme  de  Stael  as  she  really  was  in  her 
youth."  In  a  word,  Chateaubriand  and  Mme  de  Stael 
were  the  creators  of  the  novel  that  is  at  once  psycho- 
logical and  lyric,  of  the  novel  whose  effusions  may 
be  said  to  be  nothing  more  than  the  unrestrainable 

THIERRY]  . — Of  the  importance  of  this  innovation  in  art ; — and  how 
by  becoming  the  principle  of  what  Romanticism  will  term  local 
colour; — it  contributed  to  the  renovation  of  poetry; — to  the  re- 
novation of  the  mode  of  writing  and  conceiving  history ; — and  even 
to  the  renovation  of  criticism ; — since  traces  of  the  influence  of 
Chateaubriand  are  to  be  detected  in  Villemain,  Sainte-Beuve,  and 
Renan. 

Chateaubriand's  political  career  ; — and  that  it  is  of  slight  interest  as 
regards  its  bearing  on  the  history  of  ideas. — Chateaubriand's  political 
writings  and  speeches  added  nothing  to  his  glory ; — while  the  articles 
he  wrote  for  the  Journal  des  Debats  between  1824  and  1830  did  the 
utmost  harm  to  the  monarchy  of  1815  ; — and  to  the  cause  of  which  their 
author  was  the  champion. — Of  the  element  of  self-sufficiency  which 
he  introduced  into  the  literature  of  his  time. — The  Memoires  d'outre- 
tombe; — and  that  they  do  not  differ  in  character  from  Rousseau's 
Confessions ; — but  that  they  deal  in  places  with  more  important 
interests  ; — in  appreciating  which  Chateaubriand  has  been  guided  in 
general  solely  by  his  personal  vanity. — Whether  the  Memoires  d'outre- 
tombe  are  Chateaubriand's  masterpiece  ? — and  that  while  no  doubt 
they  have  not  detracted  from  his  renown  as  a  writer,  the  rhetorician 
is  too  often  manifest  in  them  beneath  the  poet ; — and  not  only  the 
rhetorician  but  the  actor ; — while,  a  graver  matter  still,  they  invite 
doubt  as  to  the  sincerity  of  their  author's  convictions. — The  last 
years  of  Chateaubriand ; — the  Abbaye-au-Bois  and  Mme  Recamier's 


400    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

outpourings  of  a  personality  which  reveals  itself  in 
giving  vent  to  them.  In  spite  of  this,  however,  it 
must  not  be  overlooked  that  it  was  the  moralist  in 
Rousseau  who  attracted  the  two  writers,  and  his  hold 
over  them  was  due  to  the  possibility  they  thought 
they  saw  of  utilising  his  ethics  as  a  basis  on  which 
to  reconstruct  all  the  Revolution  had  ruined,  to  the 
beginning  or  the  promise  of  a  new  order  of  things  they 
fancied  was  contained  in  his  works.  It  was  because  she 
thought  she  had  found  a  firm  foundation  for  her  hopes 
of  progress  in  the  Profession  de  foi  du  vicaire  Savoyard, 
that  Mine  de  Stael,  on  the  morrow  of  the  Terror,  wrote 
an  entire  book  with  a  view  to  proving  "  that  reason 
and  philosophy  were  continually  acquiring  fresh  vigour 

circle. — Publication  of  the  Memoires  d'outre-tomte,  1849  ; — and  the 
controversies  around  the  name  of  Chateaubriand  that  are  the  result. 
— Sainte-Beuve's  book  on  Chateaubriand  ; — the  caution  with  which 
it  must  be  read  ; — and  that  the  judgment  of  posterity  on  Chateau- 
briand has  still  to  be  pronounced. 

3.  THE  WOKKS. — Chateaubriand  having  supervised  during  his  life- 
time the  issue  of  his  Complete  Works  in  36  volumes,  Paris,  1836-1839, 
Pourrat ; — we  might  confine  ourselves  to  giving  the  contents  of 
the  36  volumes,  were  not  the  arrangement  of  the  matter  in  them 
really  too  arbitrary,  and  chronology  too  little  respected.  The 
principal  titles  and  dates  that  should  be  borne  in  mind  are  the 
following :  Essai  sur  les  revolutions,  London,  1797  ; — Attala,  1801  ; — 
Le  genie  du  Christianisme  and  Rene,  1802; — Les  Martyrs,  ou  le . 
Triomphe  de  la  religion  chretienne,  1809 ; — Itineraire  de  Paris  a 
Jerusalem,  1811;  —  De  Buonaparte  et  des  Bourbons,  1814; — Les 
Natchez,  1826; — Voyage  en  Amerique,  1827; — Etudes  Mstoriques, 
1831. 

The  Cong  res  de  Verone  ; — and  the  Vie  de  M.  Ranee  ; — which  are 
not  included  in  Pourrat's  edition,  were  published  respectively  in  1838 
and  1844. 

Vols.  xxvi.  to  xxxii.  of  the  edition  in  question  contain  the  miscel- 
laneous political  writings  and  the  speeches,  vols.  xxxiii.  and  xxxiv.  the 
Essai  sur  la  litterature  anglaise,  and  vols.  xxxv.  and  xxxvi.  the 
translation  of  Paradise  Lost, 


MODERN    TIMES  401 

amid  the  innumerable  misfortunes  of  the  human  race." 
Again,  if  the  religious  sentimentalism  of  Chateaubriand 
had  not  been  the  outcome  of  his  birth  and  education,  he 
too  would  have  found  in  this  same  Profession  de  foi  the 
essence  of  his  Genie  du  christianisme. 

As  proof  that  Chateaubriand  and  Mme  de  Stael  were 
logically  as  well  as  chronologically  the  descendants  or 
successors  of  Rousseau,  the  fact  would  suffice  that  at  the 
time  of  the  appearance  of  La  litterature  (1800)  and  the 
Genie  du  christianisme ,  the  two  works  are  indeed,  to 
start  with,  pronounced  to  be  in  opposition,  and  Fon- 
tanes,  although  not  as  yet  at  the  head  of  the  Uni- 
versity organised  by  Napoleon,  rails  somewhat  bitterly 
at  Mme  de  Stael  on  the  score  of  her  chimerical, 

II.  Anne-Louise-G-ermaine  Necker,  Baroness  de  Stae'l- 
Holstein  [Paris,  1766 ;  f  1817,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES.  —Notice  sur  les  ecrits  et  le  caractere  de  Mme  de 
Stael   [by  Mme   Necker  de  Saussure]   preceding  the  edition  of  the 
Complete  Works,  Paris,  1820  ; — 0.  d'Haussonville,  Le  salon  de  Mme 
Necker,  Paris,  1882 ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  de  femmes,  Mme  de 
Stael,   1835  ;    Chateaubriand   et  son  groupe  litteraire,    1849 ;    and 
Nouveaux   lundis,  vol.  ii.,   1862; — A.  Michiels,  Histoire   des   Idees 
litteraires  au  XIXe  siecle,  Paris,  1843  ; — A.  Vinet,  Mme  de  Stael  et 
Chateaubriand  ; — Baudrillart,  Eloge  de   Mme   de  Stael,   1850 ; — G. 
Merlet,  Tableau  de  la  litterature  frangaise  sous  le  premier  Empire, 
Paris,    1877 ; — Lady    Blennerhasset,  Mme   de   Stael  et  son   temps ; 
— Em.  Faguet,  Politiques  et  moralistes  au  XIXe  siecle,  Paris,  1891 ; 
— Albert  Sorel,  Madame  de  Stael,  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  frangais  " 
series,  Paris,  1890 ; — G.  Brandes,  Die  Hauptstromungen  der  Lite- 
ratur  des  19  Jahrhunderls,  5th  edition,  Leipsic,  1897. 

Mme  Lenormant,  Madame  de  Stael  et  la  grande-duchesse  Louise, 
Paris,  1862; — Saint-Ben£  Taillandier,  La  Comtesse  d' Albany,  Paris, 
1862 ;— Dejob,  Mme  de  Stael  et  V Italic,  Paris,  1890. 

2.  THE  ROLE  OF  MME  DE  STAfiL. — Mme  de  Stael  may  be  shown  to 
have  had  a  threefold  influence  on  the  development  of  contemporary 
ideas ; — and,   according  to   her   own  expression,  her  influence   was 
"  European  "  or  cosmopolitan, — as  befitted  the  birth  of  the  daughter 

27 


402    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

"indefinite  perfectibility."  He  did  not  perceive  that 
perfectibility  for  the  author  of  La  litterature  means 
"  moral  perfectibility,"  of  which  she  expected  great  things, 
while  she  expected  little  or  nothing  from  the  progress  of 
science  or  philosophy.  She  does  not  quarrel  for  a 
moment  with  science  and  philosophy,  but  she  regards 
them  merely  as  means  to  an  end  which  is  the  moral 
amelioration  of  humanity.  There  are  persons,  however, 
who  are  fully  alive  to  what  escaped  the  attention  of 
Fontanes,  and  they  combine  to  a  man  against  Mme  de 
Stael  and  Chateaubriand  without  troubling  to  draw  fine 
distinctions  between  the  two,  whom  they  even  place  on 
occasion  in  the  same  category  as  Bernardin  de  Saint- 
Pierre.  But  those  who  adopt  this  attitude  are  found  to 

of  the  Neckers. — She  rescued  what  was  worth  preserving  of  the  spirit 
of  the  eighteenth  century; — she  reunited  the  "literatures  of  the 
North  "  and  the  "  literatures  of  the  South  "  ; — and  she  laid  down  the 
principle  of  what  is  to-day  known  as  the  Feminist  movement  or 
the  movement  in  favour  of  Women's  Eights. 

A.  The  Lettres  sur  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau,  1788 ; — and  her  work 
La  litterature,  &c.,  1800. — In  what  respect  these  two  books,  although 
the  Revolution  intervened  between  their  publication, — are  the  out- 
come of  the  same  inspiration ; — and  are  conceived  in  the   spirit   of 
the  eighteenth   century  as  regards   the   confidence  they   exhibit  in 
the  power  of  reason ; — in  the  adequacy  of  natural  religion ; — and  in 
the  indefinite  perfectibility  of  the  human  race. — Originality  of  the 
volume  La  litterature ; — and  the  abundance  of  its  author's  "  views  "  ; 
— which  are  always  intelligent,  often  ingenious,  and  sometimes  pro- 
found.— Theory  of  the  distinction  between  the  literatures  of  the  North 
and  the  South ; — and  that  it  is  a  fruitful  theory. 

B.  Her  book  De  I'Allemagne ; — and  of  the  progress  it  indicates  in 
the  development   of  its   author's   ideas. — Her  eyes  opened  by  the 
objections  of  Fontanes  and  Chateaubriand  to  her  book  la  Litterature; 
— enlightened  by  a  wider  experience  of  life ; — having  visited  Italy  and 
undergone  its  charm ; — and  in  turn  restrained  or  stimulated  by  the 
conversation   of  the   visitors   to  Coppet ; — Mme  de    Stael   does   not 
abandon  her  early  ideas ; — on  the  contrary,  in  a  certain  sense,  her 
estimate  of  the  literature  of  the  North  is  too  favourable ; — conceived 


MODERN   TIMES  403 

be  precisely  the  former  enemies  of  Rousseau;  they  are 
the  men  who  are  continuing  the  traditions  of  Voltaire 
and  the  Encyclopedia — the  "  Ideologists,"  in  a  word. 

They  are  numerous  and  influential,  for  besides  having 
the  control  of  almost  all  the  newspapers,  while  they  are 
on  the  eve  of  invading  the  reconstituted  and  reorganised 
Academies,  they  lack  neither  merit  nor  talent.  Les 
Euiiies  are  but  little  read  at  the  present  day — unless  it  be 
in  Germany,  where  new  editions  of  the  work  are  frequent 
— and  yet  Volney  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  founders 
of  exegesis  and  one  of  the  reformers  of  philology.  The 
real  significance  of  the  celebrated  book  of  Cabanis,  Les  rap- 
ports duphysique  et  du  moral,  is  that  it  contains  the  germs 
of  the  science  of  psychological  physiology,  or  of  psycho- 

as  it  is  in  a  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  Empire ; — and  affected  as  it  is 
by  her  tendency,  as  a  woman,  to  be  attracted  by  novelty. — But  in  this 
new  work  she  demonstrates  admirably  that  the  "  social  spirit,"  after 
having  been  the  soul  of  French  literature,  has  become  the  cause  of 
its  disorganisation ; — and  that  French  literature,  in  consequence, 
can  only  be  regenerated  by  going  to  new  models  for  inspiration ; — 
models  whose  originality  will  emancipate  it  from  obsolete  conven- 
tions ; — and  serve  both  as  an  example  of  and  to  promote  a  taste  for 
liberty. — The  next  step  will  be  the  constitution  by  all  concerned  of  a 
Western  or  European  civilisation ; — of  which  literature  will  be  the 
common  expression ; — and  whose  characteristics  will  be  substanti- 
ally the  same  hi  Paris  and  Berlin,  in  London  and  Saint  Petersburg. 
— The  object  of  this  literature  will  be  the  improvement  of  the  con- 
dition of  humanity ; — a  goal  which  brings  us  back  to  the  book  La 
litterature ; — but  an  improvement  achieved  more  especially  by  moral 
or  religious  means ; — a  stipulation  that  brings  the  writer  into  touch 
with  the  Genie  du  christianisme ; — and  thus  re-establishes  at  the 
close  the  harmony  which  existed  between  Mme  de  Stael  and  Chateau- 
briand at  the  opening  of  their  literary  careers. 

C.  Mme  de  StaeTs  novels; — and  that  the  two  most  important  of 
them,  Delphine  and  Corinne,  are  in  reality  a  protest  against  woman's 
lot  in  modern  societies ; — as  regards  the  obligation  she  is  under  to 
submit  to  opinion  on  every  occasion ; — the  obstacles  she  encounters 
in  the  way  of  developing  her  "  superiority  "  when  she  happens  to  be 


404    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

physiology  to  employ  the  term  in  use  to-day.  Destutt  de 
Tracy,  too,  the  author  of  the  Elements  d'ideologie,  has 
more  than  one  illustrious  contemporary  at  the  present 
time.  These  writers,  however,  are  assuredly  not  men  of 
sentiment,  and  nothing  is  more  foreign  to  them  than  the 
tendency  to  melancholy  that  characterises  Mine  de  Stael, 
or  than  the  poetry  of  Christianity ;  if  indeed  it  ought 
not  to  be  said  that  they  are  resolutely  hostile  to  the 
melancholy  of  Mme  de  Stae'l  and  the  fanatical  opponents 
of  the  doctrines  of  Chateaubriand.  The  ideas  of  the 
authors  of  La  litterature  and  the  Genie  du  christianisme 
are  as  little  to  the  taste  of  Garat,  for  instance,  or  of 
Ginguene,  or  of  the  other  writers  on  the  Decade,  which 
although  the  philosophic  organ  of  the  period,  accords  its 

exceptionally  gifted ; — and  the  price  she  is  made  to  pay  for  this 
superiority. — -It  should  be  added  that  the  eloquence  of  the  protest  is 
increased  by  the  fact  that, — according  to  the  expression  employed 
by  Mme  Necker  de  Saussure, — "if  Corinne  represents  an  ideal  Mme 
de  Stael,  Delphine  shows  her  as  she  really  was  in  her  youth  "  ; — and 
thus  it  is  that  Mme  de  Stael's  novels  pave  the  way  for  those  of  the 
author  of  Indiana  and  Valentine. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  works  of  Mme  de  Stael  are  composed  of : 

(1)  Her  novels : — Mirza,  Adelaide  et   Theodore,  the  Histoire  de 
Pauline,  written  about  1786  and  first  published,  together  with  the 
curious    Essai   sur   les   Fictions,   in    1795 ; — Delphine,    1802 ; — and 
Corinne,  ou  de  Vltalie,  1807. 

(2)  Her  critical  works  : — Lettres  sur  les  ecrits  et  le  caractere  de  J.-J. 
Rousseau,  1788 ; — De  V Influence  des  passions   sur  le   bonheur  des 
individus  et  des  nations,  1796 ; — La  litterature  consideree  dans  ses 
rapports  avec  les  Institutions  sociales,  1800 ; — De  VAllemagne,  1810, 
which  was  destroyed  by  the  Imperial  police,  and  reprinted  in  London 
in  1813  and  in  Paris  in  1814 ; — and  Reflexions  sur  le  suicide,  1812. 

(3)  Her  political  writings : — Reflexions  sur  le  proces  de  la  Reine, 
1793 ;— her  apology  for  her  father :  Du  caractere  de  M.  Necker  et  de 
sa  vie  privee,  1804 ; — the  Memoirs   she  has  entitled :    Dix  annees 
d'exil ; — and  the  Considerations  sur  la  revolution  francaise.     These 
last  two  works  were  published  in  1818  by  her  son  and  her  son-in-law, 
Baron  A.  de  Stae'l  and  the  Due  V.  de  Broglie. 


. 


MODERN   TIMES  405 

hospitality  to  the  most  slippery  productions  of  citizen 
Parny.  The  men  of  science,  for  their  part,  the  true 
men  of  science  that  is — those  whose  immortal  discoveries 
have  counterbalanced  or  compensated  the  sterile  abund- 
ance of  the  literature  of  the  Revolution  and  the  Empire, 
Laplace  and  Monge,  Berthollet  and  Fourcroy,  Chaptal, 
Cuvier,  Lamarck  and  Geoffrey  Saint-Hilaire, — are  scarcely 
more  favourable  to  the  new  sentimentalism.  Their 
opinions  will  one  day  be  profoundly  modified,  together 
with  their  interests,  but  for  the  moment,  as  becomes  the 
true  descendants  they  are  of  the  preceding  generation, 
their  chief  concern  is  the  free  exercise  of  their  "  thinking 
faculty,"  and  in  their  eyes  even  the  "rewarding  and 
avenging"  God  of  Voltaire  is  a  mere  hypothesis,  in 

Mme  de  Stael  also  wrote  some  poetry  and  essayed  the  drama. 
The    authentic   edition   of    her  works  is  that  of   1820-1821,    17 
volumes,  Paris,  Treuttel  et  "Wurtz. 

III.— Ideologists,  Men  of  Science,  and  Philologists. 

The  role  of  the  ideologists, — who  were  long  regarded  as  merely 
"  the  tail  end  of  the  Encyclopedia "  and  treated  in  consequence  by 
historians, — has  recently  been  given  its  rightful  importance  by  M. 
Ferraz  in  his  Histoire  de  la  Philosophic  pendant  la  Revolution 
[1789-1804],  Paris,  1889;— and  by  M.  F.  Picavet  in  his  Ideologues, 
Paris,  1891.  The  Ideologists  included  Saint-Lambert,  Sieyes, 
Garat,  Tracy,  and  Laroniiguiere, — and  they  were  frequently  to  be 
met  with  in  the  offices  of  the  newspaper  La  Decade  philosophique. 
— They  frequently  met,  too,  at  the  house  of  Mme  Helvetius  at 
Auteuil  [Cf.  Guillois,  Le  salon  de  Mme  Helvetius,  Paris,  1894 ;  and 
La  Marquise  de  Condorcet,  Paris,  1896]  ; — or  at  that  of  Coiidorcet's 
widow,  who  had  become  the  intimate  friend  of  the  tribune  Mailla- 
Garat. — They  were  the  uncompromising  champions  of  the  purest 
Encyclopedic  principles, — which  they  defended  against  Chateaubri- 
and, Mme  de  Stael  and  the  First  Consul  [Cf.  Jules  Simon,  Une 
academic  sous  le  Directoire,  Paris,  1884] . 

Some  of  them  had  leanings  towards  science ;  —  Cabanis,  for 
example,  the  author  of  that  famous  book  Les  Rapports  du  physique 
et  du  moral,  1802 ; — or  were  even  genuine  men  of  science :  Lamarck 


406    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

whose  absence  the  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
or  the  manufacture  of  beetroot  sugar  would  go  on 
equally  well.  The  critics  and  the  erudite  hold 
similar  opinions.  "That  the  French  genius  needs 
to  be  regenerated  by  an  infusion  of  more  generous 
blood"  is  not  at  all  the  view  of  such  men  as  Daunou, 
Marie-Joseph  Chenier,  or  Hoffmann,  of  an  entire  genera- 
tion of  skilled  Hellenists  that  included  Clavier,  Villoison, 
and  Boissonnade,  of  Courier  himself,  the  author  of  the 
Lettre  a  M.  Renouard  (1810),  an  artillery  officer  who 
would  give  the  Genie  du  christianisme,  La  litterature, 
Delphine,  Attala  and  Helo'ise  into  the  bargain  for  an 
unpublished  manuscript  of  Longinus  or  an  Homeric 
scholiast !  Furthermore,  they  are  all  suspicious  of,  they 

or  Etienne  Geoffrey  Saint-Hilaire,  for  instance ; — and  this  is  the  place 
to  note  the  prodigious  development  between  1789  and  1810  or  1815 
of  the  natural  sciences  [Cf.  Cuvier,  Rapport  sur  les  progres  des 
sciences  naturelles]  ; — the  methods  in  use  which  are  about  to  creep 
into  criticism  and  literature. — The  articles  in  the  Decade  [Cf.  Picavet, 
loc.  cit.] . — Sainte-Beuve  belonged,  to  begin  with,  to  this  school  [Cf. 
Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  xiii.]  ; — and  it  will  be  seen  that  Auguste 
Comte  was  a  product  of  it  as  well. 

Another  group  which  included  Volney,  Daunou,  Guiguene  and 
Fauriel ; — and  with  which  Eaynouard  had  points  in  common  ; — give 
a  new  direction  to  exegesis  [Cf.  Volney,  Lecons  d'histoire,  1795  ; 
EechercJies  sur  I'histoire  ancienne,  1814]  — or  lend  precision  [Cf . 
Daunou]  and  significance  [Cf.  Fauriel]  to  literary  history  ; — convert- 
ing it  from  a  mere  subject  of  curiosity  into  what  will  be  called 
later  on  "  the  science  of  the  products  of  the  human  intelligence  " 
[Cf.  Sainte-Beuve's  articles  on  Fauriel  and  Daunou  in  his  Por- 
traits contemporains,  vol.  v. ;  and  Benan,  L'avenir  de  la  science, 
1890]  ; — while  from  the  "philosophy  of  history"  as  understood  by 
Voltaire, — they  derive  a  conception  of  history  which,  though  more 
or  less  open  to  discussion,  is  genuinely  philosophic. — It  is  right  to 
add  that  the  consequences  of  their  efforts  do  not  make  themselves 
felt  at  once, — and  in  the  meantime  the  development  of  the  new 
literature  goes  on,  not  merely  unaffected  by,  but  in  opposition  to 
their  influence. 


MODERN   TIMES  407 

believe  they  have  grounds  to  be  suspicious  of,  the 
"Baroness"  de  Stael  and  the  "Viscount"  de  Chateau- 
briand !  They  seem  to  be  afraid  that  these  "  aristocrats  " 
may  one  day  contemplate  reinstating  the  old  regime ; — 
and  they  are  greatly  mistaken  in  entertaining  this  fear ; 
they  have  too  little  confidence  in  the  work  of  the  Revolu- 
tion ! — but  who  will  be  surprised  at  their  apprehensions 
on  the  morrow  of  the  Restoration,  and  if  attention  be 
directed  no  longer  to  the  author  of  the  Monarchic  scion 
la  Charte,  or  to  that  of  the  Considerations  sur  la  Revolu- 
tion Fraju^aise,  but  to  the  Vicomte  de  Bonald,  Comte 
Joseph  de  Maistre  and  the  Abbe  de  Lamennais? 

These  men,  of  a  surety,  are  as  much  "  politicians  "  as 
writers,  and  if  their  earlier  works, — which  coincide  with 

IV. — Louis-Gaoriel-AmDroise  de  Bonald  [Milhau,  1754;  f 

1840,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — H  de  B  [onald] ,  Notice  sur  la  vie  et  les  ouvrages 
de  M.  le  vicomte  de  Bonald,  Paris,  1841 ; — Barbey  d'Aurevilly,  Les 
Prophetes  du  passe,  1851 ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  iv., 
1851 ; — A.  Nettement,  Histoire  de  la  litterature  sous  la  Bestauration, 
Paris,  1853 ; — Em.  Faguet,  Politiques  et  moralistes  au  XIXC  siecle, 
Paris,  1891 ; — Henry  Michel,  L'idee  de  VEtat,  Paris,  1895. 

2.  THE  THEORIST  OF  AUTHORITY. — Two  of  his  sayings  are  insepar- 
ably associated  with  his  name : — "  man  is  an  intelligence  served  by 
organs"; — and  "literature  is  the  expression  of  society." — He  is  the 
author,  too,  as  is  well  known,  of  a  bold  paradox  concerning  the  origin 
of  language  ; — and  of  a  remarkable  essay  on  the  subject  of  divorce. — 
Above  everything  else,  however,  he  is  the  "  theorist  of  authority  "  ; — 
and  the  man  who, — combatting  the  author  of  the  Esprit  des  Lois ; 
— or  that  of  the  Contrat  social, — has  done  more  than  anybody  else 
to  establish  that  society  is  the  work  neither  of  men,  nor  of  nature  ; — 
but  of   God  Himself. — Less  eloquent  than  Jean- Jacques   Eousseau 
and  less  ingenious  than  Montesquieu  ; — he  has  yet  contrived  to  find, 
with  a  view  to  varying  his  enunciation  of  this  his  unique  or  principal 
idea, — forms  of  expressions  which  are  not  only  varied ; — but  often  of 
the  utmost  brilliancy  and  precision. — There  are  thinkers  who  "  write  " 
and  others  who  "  speak  "  :  Bonald  "  formulates  "  ; — and  for  all  these 


408    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOKY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATUEE 

the  issue  of  L'Allemagne  or  are  even  anterior  to  the 
Genie  du  christianisme — attracted  but  little  notice,  their 
talent,  nurtured  in  solitude  and  ripened  in  obscurity, 
now  shines  forth  with  all  the  more  brilliancy.  All 
three  of  them  enter  the  arena  at  the  same  moment ;  and 
it  will  be  seen,  it  ought  to  be  seen,  if  their  efforts  be 
regarded  attentively,  that  it  is  against  individualism  that 
all  three  of  them  more  especially  direct  their  attacks, 
though  they  are  not  acting  in  concert,  and  are  even  as 
yet  unacquainted  with  one  another.  Their  contempo- 
raries do  not  realise  the  situation  at  once,  and  public 
opinion  insists  on  regarding  the  Essai  sur  V  indifference 
en  matiere  de  religion  (1817),  Bonald's  Recherches  philo- 
sophiques  (1818),  his  Pape  (1819),  his  Soirees  de  Saint- 

reasons,  having  been  the  metaphysician  of  the  religious  revival, — 
he  deserve's  more  attention  than  is  often  given  him  in  histories  of 
literature. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Bonald's  chief  works  are  :  his  Theorie  du  pouvoir 
poliiique  et  religieux  dans  la  societe  civile,  1796 ; — his  Essai  analy- 
tique  sur  les  lois  de  Vordre  social,  1800 ; — his  Divorce  considers 
relativement  a  I'etat  domestique  et  a  Vetat  de  societe,  1801 ; — his 
Legislation  primitive,  1802; — his  Recherches  philosophiques  sur  les 
premiers  objets  de  nos  connaissances  morales,  1818 ; — two  volumes 
(1819)  of  articles  that  appeared  in  the  Mercure  de  France  from  1801 
to  1810 ; — a  few  speeches  and  various  short  political  or  religious 
writings. 

The  best  editions  of  Bonald's  works  are  Le  Clere's  edition,  Paris, 
1817,  1819,  1843 ;— and  Nigne's  edition,  Paris,  1864. 

V. — Joseph  Marie  de  Maistre  [Chambery,  1753  ;  f  1821, 
Turin] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Sainte-Beuve,  Port-Royal,  iii.  chap.  14,  1837- 
1839  ;  Portraits  litteraires,  ii.,  1843  ;  and  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  iv., 
1851,  vol.  xv.,  1860; — Barbey  d'Aurevilly,  Les  -proplietes  du  passe, 
1851; — Edmond  Scherer,  Melanges  de  critique  religieuse,  Paris, 
1853  ; — L.  Binaut,  Joseph  de  Maistre  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes, 
December,  1858,  and  February,  1861 ; — A.  Nettement,  Histoire  de  la 
litteratiire  francaise  pendant  la  Restauration,  Paris,  1853 ; — Albert 


MODEEN   TIMES  409 

Petersbourg  (1821),  and  Lamennais'  second  volume 
merely  as  the  most  furious  onslaught  of  which  the 
philosophy  of  the  eighteenth  century  has  as  yet  been 
the  object.  After  having  previously  attempted  to  destroy 
the  authority  of  Montesquieu,  Bonald — the  most  sys- 
tematic, and  in  appearance,  but  in  appearance  only,  the 
least  impassioned  of  the  three — now  measures  himself 
with  Condorcet  and  Condillac.  Joseph  de  Maistre,  on 
his  side,  has  taken  in  hand  Bacon  and  Voltaire,  much 
as  Voltaire  formerly  tried  to  account  for  Pascal  and 
Bossuet.  His  choice  of  Voltaire  as  the  object  of  his 
attacks  is  the  explanation  of  more  than  one  analogy 
that  may  be  pointed  out  between  his  manner  and 
that  of  Bossuet.  He  has  fought  his  way,  so  to 

Blanc,  Memoires  et  correspondance  diplomatique  de  M.  de  Maistre, 
Paris,  1858-1861 ; — G.  Merlet,  Tableau  de  la  litterature  francaise 
sous  le  premier  Empire,  Paris,  1877 ; — Em.  Faguet,  Politiques  et 
moralistes  au  XIXe  siecle,  Paris,  1891 ; — F.  Descotes,  Joseph  de  Maistre 
avant  la  Revolution,  Paris,  1893  ;  and  Joseph  de  Maistre  pendant  la 
Revolution,  Paris,  1895  ; — M.  de  Lescure,  Le  comte  Joseph  de  Maistre, 
Paris,  1893 ; — G.  Cogordan,  Joseph  de  Maistre  in  the  "  Grands 
Ecrivains  fran9ais"  series,  Paris,  1894. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — His  birth,  youth,  and  education 
[Cf.  Descostes,  loc.  cit.]  ; — his  earlj'  writings :  Eloge  historique  de 
Victor- Amedee  III.,  1775 ;  and  Adresse  a,  la  Convention  nationale, 
1794. — His  stay  at  Lausanne. — Cinq  Paradoxes  a  la  Marquise  de 
M***,  1795  [published  in  1851]  ; — and  of  the  importance  of  a  study 
of  this  work  with  a  view  to  denning  J.  de  Maistre's  talent ;— since 
the  book  is  proof  that  none  of  his  contemporaries  had  a  greater 
taste  for  paradox ; — or  greater  leanings  towards  preciosity. — Les 
Considerations  sur  la  France,  1796.  —The  King  of  Sardinia  appoints 
him  his  Minister  at  Saint  Petersburg,  1802 ; — where  he  resides  until 
1817  ; — and  composes  his  principal  works  :  the  Essai  sur  le  principe 
generateur  des  constitutions  politiques,  1810; — the  Traite  de 
Plutarque  sur  les  delais  de  la  justice  divine  (translation),  1815 ; — 
his  book  Du  Pape,  1819; — his  Soirees  de  Saint-Petersbourg  ; — and 
his  Essai  sur  la  philosophic  de  Bacon. 

Of  the  general  inspiration  of  J.  de  Maistre's  writings  ; — and  that  it 


410    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FBENCH   LITEEATUEE 

speak,  through  Voltaire  to  Bossuet,  and  identifying 
himself  as  Bossuet  had  done  with  the  idea  of  Provi- 
dence, of  which  he  might  be  termed  the  lay  apostle, 
the  grandeur  of  his  doctrine  is  reflected  at  times  in  the 
character  of  his  style.  Lamennais,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  most  impetuous,  violent,  and  gloomy  of  the  three, 
singles  out  Rousseau, — the  Rousseau  of  the  Discours  sur 
Mnegalite  and  of  the  Contrat  social,  with  whom  he  will 
one  day  fall  into  line !  The  public,  be  it  repeated,  does 
not  always  understand  them,  does  not  clearly  perceive 
whither  they  are  bound,  does  not  gauge  the  significance 
of  their  principles.  They  themselves  have  no  inkling  of 
the  amalgamation  that  will  shortly  be  made  by  certain 
thinkers  between  their  ideas  and  those  now  coming  into 

is  in  accord  with  that  of  Bonald's  writings. — Both  propose  toreascend 
the  stream  of  thought ; — to  effect  the  overthrow  of  the  philosophy  of 
the  eighteenth  century ; — and  to  re-establish  the  authority  of  religion 
on  its  ruins. — De  Maistre's  superiority  over  Bonald  lies  in  his  having 
been  mixed  up  to  a  certain  extent  in  affairs  of  State ; — and  more 
especially  in  his  having  possessed  an  admirable  gift  for  writing ; — a 
gift  enhanced  by  his  aristocratic  superciliousness ; — and  his  indefatig- 
able "  combativity." 

The  "  theologian  of  Providence  "  ; — and  how  all  de  Maistre's  works 
hinge  upon  his  desire  to  prove  that  the  world  is  governed  by  God. — 
The  Considerations  sur  la  France ; — and  that,  guided  by  the  idea  of 
Providence,  nobody  has  been  more  alive  than  de  Maistre  to  the 
"  apocalyptic  "  character  of  the  French  Revolution. — His  admiration 
for  France ; — and  how  it  shows  itself  even  in  his  invectives. — His 
books  on  the  Gallican  Church  and  on  the  Pope ; — and  that  their 
object  is  to  show  the  injury  France  has  done  itself; — every  time  it 
has  become  estranged  from  the  Papacy ; — considered  as  the  instru- 
ment of  Providence  on  earth ; — and  the  centre  that  cannot  be 
departed  from  without  error. — The  Soirees  de  Saint-Peter sbourg ; — 
how  characteristic  is  the  sub-title  of  the  book  :  "  Conversations  on 
the  temporal  government  of  Providence  "  ; — and  of  the  connection 
between  the  Soirees  de  Saint-Petersbourg  and  the  Examen  de  la 
philosophic  de  Bacon ; — if  what  de  Maistre  attacked  in  particular  in 
Voltaire  was  the  philosophy  of  the  Essai  sur  les  Mceurs ; — and  in 


MODEEN   TIMES  411 

existence  of  Saint-Simon  and  his  school.  Still,  they  have 
a  following,  and  are  more  successful  in  their  onslaught  on 
the  Encyclopedists,  the  Ideologists,  and  the  Eevolution 
than  was  Mme  de  Stael  with  all  her  intelligence  or 
Chateaubriand  with  all  his  genius ;  though  they  are  more 
imbued  than  they  believe  with  the  spirit  of  the  revolution, 
a  fact  that  makes  them  witnesses  to  its  "  satanic  "  or 
apocalyptic  character — to  use  the  expression  of  Joseph  de 
Maistre. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  Meditations,  which 
appear  in  1820,  and  the  first  Odes,  which  are  dated  1822, 
are  due  in  a  certain  measure  to  their  inspiration.  Bonald 
and  Lamennais,  both  of  them  frequenters  of  the  aristo- 
cratic salons  of  Paris,  are  among  the  privileged  few  to 

the  Essai  sur  les  Mceurs  the  Baconian  conception  which,  by  excluding 
the  consideration  of  final  causes, — excludes  all  action  of  God  Himself 
on  the  world. 

Joseph  de  Maistre's  style ; — and  that  in  certain  respects  it  is  a 
kindred  style  to  that  of  Bossuet ; — which  may  be  explained  by  the 
fact  that,  among  all  the  truths  of  religion,  they  both  of  them  concerned 
themselves  more  especially  with  the  idea  of  Providence. — A  further 
resemblance  between  Bossuet  and  de  Maistre  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
essence  of  their  character, — which  was  gentleness, — differs  from  the 
character  of  their  style ; — in  the  same  way,  and  so  to  speak  to  the 
same  extent. — As,  however,  they  are  separated  from  each  other  by  a 
century ; — and  that  the  century  is  that  of  the  Encyclopedia ; — de 
Maistre  has  an  insight  into  matters  of  which  Bossuet  was  necessarily 
ignorant ; — while  he  possesses  faults  Bossuet  was  without. 

De  Maistre's  insulting  violence  in  controversy ; — and  his  tendency 
to  paradox. — His  defence  of  capital  punishment  [Soirees,  1st  con- 
versation] ; — of  war  [Ibid.,  7th  conversation]  ; — of  the  Inquisition 
[Letlres  a  un  gentilhomme  russe] . — Whether  he  would  not  have 
done  his  cause  greater  service  had  he  displayed  greater  modera- 
tion ? — and  that  in  any  case,  had  he  done  so,  more  credit  would  be 
accorded  him; — if  not  for  certain  strange  theories  with  which  his 
writings  are  strewn ; — and  certain  more  than  hazardous  predictions 
[Cf.  Considerations,  ch.  iv.]  ; — at  any  rate  for  a  number  of  fruitful 
and  profound  ideas  ; — to  which  he  gave  his  imprint ; — if  indeed 


412     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

whom  the  Meditations  are  first  communicated  [Of. 
Correspondance  de  Lamartinc,  April  13, 1819] .  Lamartine 
writes  to  de  Maistre  (March  17,  1820)  :  "  M.  de  Bonald 
and  you,  Monsieur  le  Comte  .  .  .  have  founded  an 
imperishable  school  of  lofty  philosophy  and  Christian 
politics  ...  it  will  bear  fruit,  of  a  kind  that  may  be 
judged  in  advance."  To  his  contact  with  or  to  the 
conversations  of  de  Maistre,  Lamennais,  and  Bonald, 
he  owed,  perhaps,  that  vigour  and  decision  which 
weaned  him  for  a  moment  from  the  vagueness  in 
which  he  aspired  to  lose  himself ;  and  it  is  possible 
that  in  the  absence  of  their  influence  the  Meditations 
would  have  been  merely  "  pure  as  air,  sad  as  death,  and 
soft  as  velvet  "  [Of.  his  letter  of  April  13,  1819] .  Again, 

it  ought  not  to  be  said  that  he  was  the  first  to  promulgate 
them. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Joseph  de  Maistre's  works  include  :  his  Con- 
siderations sur  la  France,  1796,  a  work  it  is  of  extreme  interest  to 
compare  with  the  writings  of  Burke  and  Fichte  ; — the  Essai  sur  le 
principe  generateur  des  constitutions  politiqu-es,  1810-1814  ; — his 
book  Du  Pape,  1819 ; — the  Eglise  gallicane,  1891  [posthumous]  ; — 
the  Soirees  de  Saint-Petersbourg,  1821  ; — and  the  Examen  de  la 
philosophic  de  Bacon,  first  issued  in  1836. 

Two  volumes  of  his  Letters  and  Unpublished  Short  Writings  were 
issued  in  1851  [Lyons,  Vitte  et  Perussel]  by  his  son  Comte  Rudolphe 
de  Maistre ; — while  M.  Albert  Blanc  edited  in  1858  his  Political 
Reminiscences  and  in  1861  his  Diplomatic  Correspondence  [1811- 
1817] ,  Paris,  Michel  Levy. 

There  is  an  edition  of  his  complete  works  in  14  volumes,  Lyons, 
Vitte  et  Perussel,  1884-1886.  The  last  six  volumes  contain  the  two 
volumes  issued  in  1851,  M.  Albert  Blanc's  three  volumes,  and  some 
two  hundred  unpublished  letters. 

VI.— Paul-Louis  Courier  [Paris,  1772 ;  f  1825,  Veretz,  Indre- 
et-Loire] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Armand  Carrel,  Essai  sur  la  vie  et  les  ecrits  de 
P-L.  Courier,  preceding  the  edition  of  the  Works,  Paris,  1834  [the 
Notice  is  dated  1829]  ; — Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  vi., 


MODERN   TIMES  413 

there  are  the  familiar  opening  lines  of  the  first  preface  to 
the  Odes :  "A  dual  intention  underlies  the  issue  of  this 
book,  a  literary  intention  and  a  political  intention,  but  in 
the  mind  of  the  author,  the  latter  is  the  consequence  of 
the  former,  for  poetry  is  only  to  be  detected  in  the  history  of 
mankind  when  it  is  judged  from  the  pinnacle  of  monarchical 
ideas  and  religious  beliefs."  Is  not  this  the  place  to  recall 
the  fact  that  before  the  publication  of  the  Odes,  Victor 
Hugo  was  on  terms  of  close  intimacy  with  Lamennais  ? 
[Cf.  Victor  Hugo  raconte  par  un  temoin  de  sa  vie,  ii.  38]. 
Such  pieces  as  La  Vendee,  Quiberon,  Les  Vierges  de  Verdun 
and  Buonaparte,  did  not  belie  the  declarations  of  the  pre- 
face ;  and  the  author,  if  we  are  to  believe  Stendhal, 
becomes  the  favourite  poet  of  the  "  Ultras,"  a  destiny  he 

1852; — A.  Netteinent,  Litterature  franqaise  sous  la  Bestauration, 
Paris,  1853. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER  ; — and  that  he  deserves  to  be  remem- 
bered if  only  for  the  originality  of  his  figure  ; — while  in  the  anny,  he 
did  little  else  but  perpetually  desert  his  post ; — in  his  public  life  he 
affected  to  be  a  "  peasant,"  while  engaged  in  translating  Greek  authors 
into  the  French  of  Amyot ; — and  in  his  best  writings  he  combines  the 
most  delicate  sense  of  style  with  a  rare  rudeness  of  thought. — What 
were  his  reasons  for  siding  with  the  Liberal  opposition  under  the 
Restoration ; — and  whether  the  principal  of  them  was  not  his  failure 
to  secure  admission  to  the  Academic  des  Inscriptions,  1818  ? — In  any 
case,  it  is  from  this  moment  onwards  that  he  becomes  irreconcilable ; 
and  that  he  issues  his  bitterest  pamphlets ; — though  his  views  did  not 
prevent  his  being  in  private  life  the  most  exacting  of  landlords ; — 
the  most  pitiless  of  masters ; — and  the  harshest  of  creditors ; — and 
that  a  knowledge  of  this  side  of  his  character  makes  it  possible  not  to 
attribute  his  murder  to  the  "  bigots  " ; — as  is  still  done  in  some  histo- 
ries [Cf.  Paul  Albert,  Litterature  frangaise  au  XIX"  siecle,  vol.  ii.] . 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Paul-Louis  Courier's  works  comprise  : — his  imita- 
tions or  translations  of  the  ancients,  among  which  may  be  mentioned 
his  translation  of  the  Pastorals  of  Longinus,  of  some  fragments  of 
Herodotus,  and  of  Xenophon's  short  work  on  the  leading  of  cavalry. 
The  choice  of  this  last  work  is  pure  affectation,  while  his  translation 
of  "  Daphnis  and  Chloe  "  is  extremely  heavy  and  pedantic. — (2)  His 


414    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

deserved,  seeing  that  neither  Lamennais,  Bonald,  nor  de 
Maistrehad  denounced  more  energetically"  the  saturnalia 
of  atheism  and  anarchy  "  or  treated  with  loftier  contempt 
the  "  sophistical  and  licentious  writings  of  the  Voltaires, 
the  Diderots,  and  the  Helvetius." 

The  literary  effect  of  the  Meditations  and  the  Odes  on  a 
generation  whose  favourite  poets  were  Andrieux,  Nepomu- 
cene  Lemercier,  Casimir  Delavigne,  and  Pierre- Jean  de 
Beranger  may  be  imagined.  While  Beranger,  for  example, 
was  laboriously  rhyming  such  songs  as  La  bonne  vieille 
or  Le  Dieu  des  bonnes  gens, — masterpieces  it  may  be, 
but  masterpieces  in  what  would  be  the  lowest  branch  of 
writing  if  the  vaudeville  did  not  exist, — French  poetry 

literary  pamphlets :  Lettre  a  M.  Renouard,  1810 ;  and  the  Lettre  a 
MM.  de  V  Academic  des  Inscriptions,  1819 ; — and  his  political 
pamphlets  :  Petition  aux  deux  Cliambres,  1816 ; — Lettres  au  Redac- 
teur  du  "Censeur,"  1819-1820; — Simple  Discours  (written  in  connec- 
tion with  the  subscription  for  the  acquisition  of  Chambord),  1821 ; — 
Proces  de  Paul-Louis  Courier,  1821  ; — Petition  pour  des  Villageois 
qu'on  empeche  de  danser,  1822 ; — and  the  Pamphlet  des  pamphlets, 
1824. — (8)  Diverse  fragments,  the  most  interesting  of  which  is  the 
Conversation  cliez  la  duchesse  d1 Albany  (composed  in  1812) ; — and 
(4)  a  volume  of  Letters,  often  reprinted  under  the  title  Lettres  de 
France  et  d 'Italic  (1797-1812). 

The  best  edition  of  Paul-Louis  Courier's  works  is  that  in  four 
volumes,  Paris,  1834,  Paulin  and  Perrotin. 

VII.— Pierre-Jean  de  Beranger  [Paris,  1780 ;  f  1857,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  contemporains,  vol.  i., 
1832,  1833  ;  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  ii.,  1850;  and  Nouveaux  lundis, 
vol.  i.,  1861. 

Beranger,  Ma  Biographic ;  also  his  Correspondence  edited  by 
M.  Paul  Boiteau  in  1860. 

Gustave  Planche,  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  June,  1850 ; — Emile 
Montegut,  Nos  morts  contemporains,  1857  and  1858 ; — Savinien 
Lapointe  (the  cobbler  poet)  Memoires  sur  Beranger,  1857 ; — Ernest 
Kenan,  La  Philosophie  de  Beranger,  in  the  Journal  des  Debats, 
December  17,  1859  ; — Paul  Boiteau,  Vie  de  Beranger,  Paris,  1861 ;— 


MODERN   TIMES  415 

in  the  Meditations  was  reaching  heights  it  had  never 
perhaps  attained  to,  and  in  the  hands  of  the  poet  of  the 
Odes  the  "  bronze  lyre  "  was  yielding  notes  such  as  had 
not  been  heard  since  the  time  of  Ronsard.  That  the 
scale  of  "  values  "  had  changed  could  only  be  doubted  by 
a  few  belated  Voltairians.  What  till  quite  lately  had 
been  taken  to  be  poetry  was  now  seen  to  be  a  mere 
caricature  or  spurious  imitation  of  the  genuine  article. 
Was  there  any  comparison  between  the  lofty  design  and 
vigorous  colouring  of  Hugo's  Buonaparte,  or  the  volup- 
tuous melancholy  of  the  Lac,  and  the  prosaic  declamation 
of  a  Messenienne  on  ' '  the  need  of  union  after  the  de- 
parture of  the  foreigners  "  ?  The  pseudo-lyricism  of  the 

N.  Peyrat,  Beranger  et  Lamennais,  1861 ; — Arthur  Arnould,  Beranger, 
ses  amis  et  ses  ennemis,  Paris,  1864 ; — Jules  Janin,  Beranger  et  son 
temps,  Paris,  1866 ; — Brivois,  Bibliographic  de  I'ceuvre  de  Beranger, 
Paris,  1876 ; — Legouve's  Notice  preceding  the  Beranger  des  Ecoles, 
1894. 

2.  THE  SONGWRITER  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  song  in 
France  prior  to  Beranger. — Panard  [Cf.  Marmontel's  Memoirs]  ; — 
and  Desaugiers  [Cf.  Chansons  et  Poesies  diverges  de  Desaugiers, 
Paris,  1827,  Ladvocat] . — The  heartrending  character  of  their  gaiety  ; 
and  the  vulgarity  of  sentiment  displayed  by  their  songs. — But  if  it  is 
desired  to  trace  Beranger's  "  ancestors," — it  is  necessary  to  go  back 
to  the  Chansonnier  Maurepas ; — and  his  work  is  then  found  to  be  the 
result  of  a  combination  of  the  political  song : — the  erotic  song ; — and 
the  "Bacchic"  song; — but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  nothing 
whatever  of  the  "  popular  "  vein  in  his  work. — Of  a  serious  error  that 
is  still  made  in  this  connection ; — and  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 
entire  work  of  Beranger, — which  recalls  either  the  customary  melan- 
choly ; — or  the  habitual  frankness ; — or  the  naive  generosity  of  the 
popular  mind ; — his  songs,  on  the  contrary,  bring  the  expression  of 
what  is  most  "  bourgeois  "  in  the  French  temperament. 

Of  another  error  made  in  connection  with  Beranger ; — and  con- 
sisting in  representing  him  as  a  "  simple,  easy-going  fellow  "  of  the 
stamp  of  La  Fontaine ; — who  himself  was  nothing  of  the  kind  [Cf. 
above  article  LA  FONTAINE]  ; — the  truth  being  that  he  could  hardly 
have  displayed  more  unfairness,  perfidy,  and  cunning  than  he  did  in 


416    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

classicists,  of  a  Chenedolle,  a  Fontanes,  a  Lebrun-Pindare, 
even  of  Jean-Baptiste  Eousseau  himself  ceased  to  exist  in 
presence  of  this  revelation  of  a  new  poetry.  For  a  few 
years  to  come,  efforts  will  be  made,  solely  for  political 
reasons,  to  bolster  up  the  doomed  traditions,  but  their 
supporters  will  be  restricted  at  last  to  readers  of  the 
Constitutionnel,  to  a  few  aged  Academicans,  and  to  the 
most  narrow-minded  and  retrograde  element  in  the  so- 
called  "liberal"  bourgeoisie. 

There  were  other  symptoms  that  pointed  to  a  revolu- 
tion in  literature,  and  first  among  them  was  a  growing 
and,  while  not  a  new,  a  henceforth  reasoned  enthusiasm 
for  foreign  literatures.  This  disposition  was  neither  the 

his  conflict  with  the  Government  of  the  Restoration  [Cf.  Le  Fils  du 
Pape,  VEnfant  de  bonne  Maison,  les  Reverends  peres  and  le  Vieux 
caporal] . — It  would  be  impossible  to  flatter  more  skilfully  passions, 
which  Beranger  does  not  seem  to  have  shared  himself ; — as  it  would 
be  impossible  to  turn  to  more  ingenious  account,  with  a  view  to 
sowing  suspicion  and  hatred,  a  more  shallow  [Cf.  La  Nature,  le  Dieu 
des  bonnes  gens]  ; — or  more  ignoble  philosophy  [Cf .  les  Filles,  les  Deux 
Soeurs,  etc.]  ; — or  a  more  indecent  suggestiveness  [Cf.  le  Vieux  celiba- 
taire,  les  Cinq  etages,  etc.] . — There  is  no  need  to  go  further  afield  for 
the  reasons  of  Beranger's  popularity ; — reasons  moreover  which  are  its 
justification  ; — if  this  taste  for  suggestiveness  ; — this  refusal  to  think  ; 
— and  this  spirit  of  opposition  for  the  sake  of  opposition ; — are  unfortu- 
nately among  the  most  assured  characteristics  that  are  included  in 
the  expression  "  gauloiserie." 

Still,  it  cannot  be  contested  that  there  is  infinite  art  in  certain  of 
Beranger's  songs  [Cf.  la  Bonne  vieille,  le  Vieux  celibataire,  les  Cinq 
etages,  le  Vieux  caporal,  etc.] . — There  is  art  in  his  choice  of  his 
choruses ; — which  almost  always  express  in  a  single  verse  the  theme 
of  the  entire  song ; — while  he  always  leads  up  to  the  chorus  with  the 
utmost  ease  and  naturalness  [Cf.  Mon  habit,  les  Cartes,  la  Fille  du 
peuple,  le  Vieux  vagabond] . — There  is  still  more  art  in  the  way  in 
which  his  songs  are  "  composed"  ; — they  may  be  said  to  be  so  many 
"  genre  "  pictures  ; — appealing  directly  to  the  eye  ; — and  inviting 
illustration. — Of  the  depiction  of  bourgeois  hie  in  Beranger's  songs  ; 
— and  that  there  exists  no  barer  evidence  respecting ; — or  more 


MODERN   TIMES  417 

least  unexpected  nor  the  least  natural  result  of  the 
great  wars  of  the  Empire.  Over  a  period  of  twenty 
years  a  mixture  of  races  to  which  nothing  similar  had 
been  seen  for  centuries,  had  taken  place  on  the  battle- 
fields of  Europe,  where  the  blood  that  had  been  shed  had 
ended  in  cementing,  as  it  were,  a  sort  of  European 
community.  "  We  should  aim  at  having  a  European 
bent  of  mind,"  wrote  Mme  de  Stae'l,  around  whom,  at 
Coppet,  an  entire  school  had  grown  up,  whose  labours, 
after  perhaps  inspiring  hers,  now  complete,  continue  and 
prolong  them.  Through  the  wide-open  breach  there 
enter  not  only  Shakespeare,  accepted  without  restriction, 
but  the  Italians  Alfieri  and  Manzoni,  and  the  Germans 

accurate  and  more  faithfully  limned  representation  of  the  life  of  the 
lower  French  middle-class  between  1815  and  1830. — Again  there  is 
much  art  in  the  way  in  which  the  rhythm  of  the  Songs  is  suited  to 
the  sentiments  they  convey ; — as  also  in  the  choice  of  expression ; — 
and  in  the  clearness  of  the  style. — Of  Beranger  as  a  writer ; — and  that 
some  few  rather  ridiculous  lines  do  not  prevent  his  having  a  right  to 
this  title. — As  has  been  said  of  him  with  propriety  ;  "  he  is  a  great 
prose  writer  who  has  fitted  his  prose  with  rhymes." 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  difficult  to  term  him  a  poet ; — though 
doubtless  he  has  here  and  there  been  successful  in  giving  poetic 
expression  to  such  poetry  as  is  occasionally  offered  by  bourgeois  life 
[Cf.  la  Bonne  vieille,  le  Vieux  celibataire]  ; — and,  in  this  connec- 
tion, of  the  poetry  of  old  age  in  Beranger's  work. — Occasionally,  too, 
he  has  struck  a  patriotic  note  [Cf.  le  Vieux  drapeau,  le  Cinq  mai,  les 
Souvenirs  du  peuple\ . — In  general,  however,  he  lacked  force  and,  still 
more,  elevation  when  expressing  strong  sentiments. — He  was  also 
wanting  in  generosity  of  feeling; — and  far  from  having  raised  the 
Song  to  the  level  of  the  Ode ; — it  was  on  the  contrary  the  triumph 
of  the  Ode ; — and  in  general  of  Romantic  lyricism ; — that  opened 
people's  eyes  to  the  "  prosaicness  "  of  Beranger's  songs. 

Beranger's  correspondence  ; — and  that  incomplete  though  it  is, — 
though  the  four  volumes  of  it  we  possess  may  not  justify  the 
enthusiasm  of  his  admirers ; — it  is  a  part  of  his  work  that  merits 
attention. — It  contains  nothing  very  striking; — and  nothing  that  is 
evidence  of  conspicuous  large-mindedness ; — but  it  completes  our 

28 


418    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Schiller,  Goethe,  Burger,  Novalis,  and  Hoffmann,  to  be 
followed  shortly  by  the  philosophers  Kant,  Fichte,  and 
Schelling.  Nor  must  the  Scotchmen  Thomas  Reid  and 
Dugald  Stewart  be  forgotten.  The  events  of  1815 
accelerate  the  movement,  which  is  furthered,  too,  by  the 
returning  emigrants,  of  whom  it  would  be  a  mistake  to 
believe  that  they  have  "  neither  forgotten  anything  nor 
learned  anything"  during  their  exile:  they  have  learned 
English  or  German,  and  that  France  does  not  consti- 
tute the  universe.  In  this  way,  during  the  early  years 
of  the  Kestoration,  between  1815  and  1825,  there  comes 
into  existence  a  common  mode  of  thinking  and  still  more 
of  feeling;  the  limits  of  the  old  horizon  are  extended, 

insight  into  Beranger's  character ;  —  and  shows  us,  behind  the 
Beranger  of  popular  legend,  a  dexterous,  cautious,  and  calculating 
man ; — and  a  writer  who  has  never  been  surpassed  for  the  skill 
with  which  he  turned  his  popularity  to  the  utmost  account. — 
The  literary  criticism  in  Beranger's  correspondence  [Cf.  Sainte- 
Beuve,  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  i.] . — His  last  years, — his  death, — and 
his  "funeral." 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Beranger's  works  are  practically  restricted  to  his 
Songs,  of  which  the  principal  original  editions  are  those  of  1815, 
Paris,  Eymery  ; — 1821,  Paris,  Firmin  Didot  ; — 1825,  Plassan  ; — 
1827,  Brussels; — 1834,  Paris,  Perrotin ; — and  1857  (his  last  songs), 
Perrotin. 

Sainte-Beuve  [Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  ii.,  1850]  has  proposed  the 
following  more  critical  classification  of  his  songs :  (1)  Old-fashioned 
songs,  in  the  style  of  Panard  and  Desaugiers:  le  Eoi  d'Yvetot;  la 
Gaudriole ;  M.  Gregoire ; — (2)  Sentimental  songs,  such  as  le  Bon 
veillard,  le  Voyageur,  les  Hirondelles ; — (3)  Party  and  patriotic 
songs  [among  which  one  is  surprised  to  see  Sainte-Beuve,  who  is 
usually  less  accommodating,  include  le  Dieu  des  bonnes  gens]  ; — 
(4)  Satirical  songs,  such  as  le  Ventru  or  the  Clefs  du  Paradis  ; — (5) 
Poetic  songs,  such  as  les  Contrebandiers,  le  Vieux  vagabond,  les 
Bohemiens. 

We  have  already  said  that  to  the  Songs  have  to  be  added  Beranger's 
Memoirs,  Ma  Biographic,  1857,  and  his  Correspondence  in  four 
volumes. 


MODERN   TIMES  419 

or  rather  they  disappear,  and  literary  cosmopolitanism 
comes  into  being.  It  differs  from  the  old  humanism 
in  this,  that  instead  of  taking  Greco-Latin  culture  for 
its  foundation,  it  proposes  to  appropriate,  to  assimi- 
late as  completely  as  possible,  what  is  most  national  in 
the  "  national "  literatures;  and  the  universality  it  aims 
at  is  an  universality,  not  of  abstraction  or  generalisation, 
but  of  composition,  under  the  sway  of  which  each  element, 
far  from  renouncing,  will  develop  its  originality  owing  to 
its  very  contrast  with  the  other  elements/ 

To  this  evolution  of  criticism  corresponds  a  parallel 
evolution  of  history,  or  rather  the  two  are  identical,  if 
space  and  time,  as  Kant  has  just  demonstrated,  form 


VIII.— Hugues-Felicite-Robert  de  Lamennais  [Saint-Malo, 

1783  ;  f  1854,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Lamennais'  Correspondence  ; — Sainte-Beuve, 
Portraits  contemporains,  1832,  1834,  1836 ;  and  Nouveaux  lundis, 
vol.  i.,  1861,  and  vol.  xi.,  1868. 

Censure  de  cinquante-six  propositions  extraites  des  ecrits  de  M.  de 
Lamennais  .  .  .  par  plusieurs  eveques  de  France,  Toulouse,  1836 ; — 
the  papal  Encyclical  Mirari  vos  .  .  .  printed  in  Lamennais'  volume 
Les  Affaires  de  Rome,  1836-1837; — and  the  Encyclical  Singulari 
nos  ...  to  be  found  in  the  same  work. 

Ange  Blaize,  Essai  biographique  sur  M.  de  Lamennais,  1857 ; — 
E.  Forgues,  Notes  et  Souvenirs,  preceding  his  edition  of  the 
Correspondance  de  Lamennais,  1859 ; — Ernest  Renan,  Lamennais  et 
ses  ecrits,  1857  [in  his  Essais  de  morale  et  de  critique]  ; — Edrnond 
Scherer,  Lamennais,  1859  [in  his  Melanges  de  critique  religieuse]  ; — 
Louis  Binaut,  Lamennais  et  sa  philosophic,  in  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes,  August  15,  1860 ; — Ravaisson,  Rapport  sur  les  progres  de  la 
philosophic  en  France  au  XIX*  »iecle,  1868 ; — P.  Janet,  Laphilosophie 
de  Lamennais,  1890; — E.  Spuller,  Lamennais,  Paris,  1892; — A. 
Roussel,  of  the  Oratory  of  Rennes,  Lamennais,  d'apres  des  documents 
inedits,  Rennes,  1892 ; — Mercier,  S.  J.,  Lamennais  aapres  sa 
correspondance  et  de  recents  travaux,  Paris,  1893 ; — P.  Le  Cannet, 
La  Jeunesse  de  Montalembert,  Paris,  1896 ; — Em.  Faguet,  Politiques 
et  Moralistes,  Paris,  1898. 


420    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTORY   OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

together  but  one  and  the  same  category  of  pure  reason. 
The  sentiment  of  the  diversity  of  places  is  inseparable 
from  that  of  the  diversity  of  periods ;  and  the  two 
combined  constitute  local  colour.  The  honour  of  having 
revealed  the  importance  of  this  conception  to  his  contem- 
poraries must  be  ascribed  to  Augustin  Thierry,  for  without 
any  desire  to  belittle  the  merit  that  accrues  to  Vitet  for  his 
Etats  de  Blois,  or  to  Vigny  for  his  Cinq-Mars,  it  must  yet 
be  borne  in  mind  that  these  two  works  were  preceded  in 
1825  by  the  Histoire  de  la  Conquete  de  I'Angleterre  par  les 
Normands.  The  part  taken  by  Augustin  Thierry  in 
the  formation  of  the  doctrine  of  Romanticism  has  been 
underestimated,  and  it  is  time  to  repair  this  injustice, 

2.  THE  BOLE  OF  LAMENNAIS  ; — and  that  nobody  perhaps,  in  recent 
times,  has  exerted  a  more  considerable  influence  on  the  history  of 
religious  ideas. 

Lamennais'  birth  and  early  education. — His  early  writings  :  the 
Reflexions  sur  I'etat  de  VEglise  en  1808,  suppressed  by  the  Imperial 
police  ; — and  the  Tradition  de  VEglise  sur  V institution  des  eveques, 
1814.— His  visit  to  England,  1814^1815 ;— and  the  issue  of  the  first 
volume  of  the  Essai  sur  V indifference  en  matiere  de  religion,  1817. — 
Emotion  aroused  by  this  work ; — an  emotion  that  is  increased  by  the 
publication  of  the  second  volume  in  1821. — Lamennais,  attacked  by 
a  portion  of  the  French  clergy, — is  defended  by  de  Maistre  and 
Bonald  [Cf.  de  Maistre,  Correspondence,  September,  1820 ;  and 
Bonald,  Melanges'] . — He  replies  himself  to  these  attacks  in  his 
Defense  de  VEssai  sur  Vindifference,  1821 ; — the  first  effect  of 
which  work  is  to  make  him  numerous  enemies  at  Borne. — He  visits 
Borne,  1824. — His  return  to  France. — Foundation  of  the  Memorial 
catholique  and  of  the  Association  for  the  Defence  of  Beligion. — 
Publication  of  the  Progres  de  la  Revolution  et  de  la  guerre  contre 
I'Eglise,  1828-1829. — Lamennais'  conflict  with  M.  de  Frayssinous  and 
M.  de  Vatimesnil. — The  revolution  of  1830,  and  the  foundation  of  the 
newspape*  VAvenir. — Fresh  difficulties. — Second  journey  to  Borne, 
1832. — Lamennais'  submission,  dissolution  of  the  Catholic  Association, 
and  definite  suppression  of  VAvenir,  1832  [Cf.  Affaires  de  Rome] . 
— Lamennais'  difficult  situation. — He  publishes  his  Paroles  d'un 
croyant,  1834. — Prodigious  effect  of  this  book  [Cf.  Sainte-Beuve, 


MODERN   TIMES  421 

since  it  may  be  that  of  all  the  conquests  made  by 
Romanticism  it  is  Thierry  who  realised  one  of  the  most 
durable. 

Ought  a  like  reparation  to  be  accorded  the  writers  on 
the  Globe  or,  on  the  contrary,  has  not  somewhat  too 
much  been  made,  in  almost  all  histories  of  literature, 
of  the  group  whose  principal  members  were  Ampere  and 
Remusat,  Dubois  and  Magnin  ?  Goethe,  who  read  them 
with  an  assiduous  attention  which  was  explained  in  part 
by  the  terms  in  which  they  were  accustomed  to  speak  of 
him,  esteemed  them  "supremely  daring"!  [Cf.  Conver- 
sations with  Eckermann].  To-day,  we  are  rather  inclined 
to  smile  at  the  daring  of  Jean-Jacques  Ampere  and 

Portraits  contemporains,  1834] . — The  Encyclical  Singulare  nos  .  .  . 
1834,  and  the  condemnation  of  Lamennais. — He  rejoins  by  issuing 
the  volume  entitled  Les  Affaires  de  Rome,  1836, — which  brings  to  a 
close  the  first  series  of  his  works  and  the  first  period  of  his  life. 

Whether  the  second  period  of  his  life  differs  as  profoundly  from 
the  first  as  Lamennais  himself  believed  ? — and  that  in  reality,  although 
the  means  he  resorted  to  were  different, — it  might  almost  be  contended 
that  the  end  he  had  in  view  remained  substantially  the  same. 

His  aim  was  to  establish  the  sovereignty  of  religion  amongst  men  ; 
— and  it  was  to  this  end  that  he  wrote  the  Essai  sur  V indifference ; — 
while  as  several  ways  of  attempting  to  effect  his  purpose  were  open 
to  him ; — he  began  by  calling  on  "  the  old-established  sovereignties 
to  league  themselves"  against  the  growing  progress  of  irreligion. — 
Perceiving,  however,  that  the  old-established  sovereignties  were  only 
disposed  to  defend  such  of  the  elements  of  religion  as  they  believed 
to  be  serviceable  to  their  own  interests ; — and  seeing  that  in  con- 
sequence of  their  attitude  the  suspicion  with  which  they  were 
regarded  by  the  political  parties  tended  to  fasten  on  religion  itself  ; — 
he  conceived  the  idea  of  separating  religion  and  politics ; — and,  as 
Eenan  appropriately  puts  it,  of  constituting  a  religious  party ; — an 
idea  which  was  the  starting-point  of  the  movement  which  has  since 
come  to  be  known  as  "  Liberal  Catholicism." 

Borne,  for  reasons  of  which  she  was  alone  the  judge, — though  they 
were  not  without  their  political  value  in  1836, — refused  to  follow  his 
lead,  or  to  allow  herself  to  be  enticed  into  adopting  this  policy. — 


422    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Charles  Magnin ;  and  which  of  their  writings  seem  to 
call  for  mention  ?  Let  it  simply  be  said  then  that  they 
had  their  share  of  influence  both  as  continuators  of 
Mme  de  Stael,  and  as  having  formulated  the  principle 
of  the  distinction  between  "literary"  works  and  works 
that  do  not  belong  to  literature.  In  this  latter  connec- 
tion, it  might  be  said  that  the  theory  of  art  for  art  is 
contained  in  germ  in  their  writings,  surprised  though 
they  were  destined  to  be  to  see  it  evolved  therefrom. 
They  also  helped  Komanticism  to  emancipate  itself  from 
a  political  tutelage  it  was  beginning  to  find  burdensome. 
For  all  these  reasons,  even  if  they  cease  to  be  read, 
they  will  not  be  grudged  the  gratitude  that  is  due  to 

Lamennais'  rupture  with  the  Papacy  was  due  to  motives  which  he 
has  set  forth  himself  [Cf .  Affaires  de  Borne] ; — and  in  this  way  he  was 
brought  to  state  the  question  in  the  following  terms:  "What  is 
Christianity  considered  in  its  relation  to  human  societies  ?  What  is 
it  that  characterises  it '?  What  order  of  thoughts  and  sentiments  has 
it  developed  in  the  world  ?  On  what  fundamental  ideas  of  right  and 
justice  has  it  established  the  mutual  relations  between  men  ?— But  to 
the  question  stated  in  these  terms, — which  are  tantamount  to  the 
suppression  of  history, — he  could  only  give  one  answer; — he  who 
at  an  earlier  date  had  founded  religion  itself  on  the  authority  of 
"universal  consent"; — and  this  answer  was  that  Christianity  and 
democracy  are  one  and  the  same  thing. 

We  have  here  the  origin  of  what  has  since  been  called  "  social 
Christianity  "  or  "  Christian  Socialism  "  ; — the  irresistible  trend  of 
which  is  towards  pure  Socialism, — directly  it  breaks  away  from 
authority  and  tradition. — Nevertheless  we  return  to  the  point  from 
which  we  started ; — and  Lamennais'  error  does  not  consist  in  his 
having  contradicted  himself ; — but  in  his  having  desired  to  establish 
between  the  two  terms  religion  and  democracy, — an  identity  which 
would  render  them  always  convertible ; — while  it  left  him  no 
alternative  but  to  be  a  pure  democrat,— should  the  Church  refuse 
to  admit  this  identity. 

Lamennais'  other  writings ; — and  how  inferior  they  are  to  his 
earlier  productions  ; — if  an  exception  be  made  in  favour  of  his  Esquisse 
d'une  philosophic,  1841-1846  ; — which  has  been  said  with  truth  to 


MODERN   TIMES  4'23 

those  who  are  sincere  lovers  of  literature  and  who  faith- 
fully serve  its  interests — though  without  contributing 
much  to  its  glory.  In  the  articles  of  the  Globe,  as  in 
the  lectures  at  the  Sorbonne,  towards  the  same  period, 
of  Villemain,  Guizot  and  Cousin,  the  old  and  the  new 
aesthetics, — university  criticism  and  Romantic  criticism, — 
endeavoured  to  effect  their  mutual  reconciliation  :  an 
effort  attended,  it  must  be  confessed,  with  only  a  limited 
measure  of  success. 

Numerous  definitions  have  been  given  of  Romanticism, 
and  still  others  are  continually  being  offered,  and  all  or 
almost  all  of  them  contain  a  part  of  the  truth.  Mine  de 
Stael  was  right  when  she  asserted  in  her  Allemagne  that 

be  "  a  philosophy  of  evolution"  [Cf.  Paul  Janet,  La  philosophic  de 
Lamennais] ; — while  it  contains  some  of  the  finest  passages  he  has 
written  [Cf.  his  Esthetique] . — Still,  his  great  works  are  his  early 
works  : — and  it  is  by  them  that  the  writer  must  be  judged. — He  is 
one  of  the  most  powerful  of  contemporary  writers, — but  his  peculiarity 
is  that  while  his  style  is  one  of  the  least  "personal"  that  can  be 
mentioned, — few  authors  have  held  "  stronger  "  ideas. — His  style,  too, 
which  was  very  harsh  to  begin  with  [Cf.  Essai  sur  I1  indifference, 
vols.  i.  and  ii.] , — softened  down  as  he  grew  older  [Cf.  his  accounts  of 
his  journey  in  the  Affaires  de  Rome] ; — while  if  there  are  traces  of 
imitation  and  declamation  in  the  Paroles  d'un  croyant, — there  is 
poetry  as  well. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — There  are  two  editions  of  Lamennais'  complete 
works,  one  in  twelve  volumes,  Paris,  1836-1837,  P.  Daubree  and 
Cailleux  ; — and  the  other  in  ten  volumes,  Paris,  1844,  Pagnerre. — Both 
editions  are  very  incomplete,  and  to  the  writings  contained  in  these 
editions  must  be  added  : — Amschaspands  et  Darvands,  1843 ; — Le 
deuil  de  la  Pologne,  1846 ; — the  Esquisse  cCune  philosophic,  1841- 
1846 ; — the  Melanges  philosophiques  et  poliiiques,  1856 ; — his  trans- 
lation of  the  Gospels ; — and  his  translation  of  the  Divine  Comedy 
[posthumous] ,  1855-1858. 

Of  his  correspondence,  still  very  incomplete,  has  been  published 
up  to  now :  2  vols.  in  1859,  Paris,  Paulin ; — 2  vols.  in  1863,  Paris, 
Dentu; — 1  vol.  in  1884  (Correspondance  avec  M.  de  Vitrolles), 
Paris,  Charpentier; — 1  vol.  in  1897  (Correspondance  avec  Monta- 


424     MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

"  Paganism  and  Christianity,  the  North  and  the  South, 
antiquity  and  the  Middle  Ages,  chivalry  and  the  institu- 
tions of  Greece  and  Rome,"  having  divided  between  them 
the  history  of  literature,  Romanticism  in  consequence,  in 
contrast  to  Classicism,  was  a  combination  of  chivalry,  the 
Middle  Ages,  the  "literatures  of  the  North  "  and  Chris- 
tianity [Cf.  De  I'Allemagne,  part  ii.,  chap.  ii.].  It  should 
be  noted,  in  this  connection,  that  some  thirty  years  later 
Heinrich  Heine,  in  the  book  in  which  he  will  rewrite  that 
of  Mme  de  Stael,  will  not  give  such  a  very  different  idea 
of  Romanticism  !  On  the  other  hand,  Stendhal,  for  his 
part,  was  not  wrong  when  he  wrote  in  1824  :  "  Roman- 
ticism is  the  art  of  acquainting  the  nations  with  those 

lembert),  Paris,  Perrin ; — and  1  vol.  in  1898  (Correspondance  avec 
Benoit  d'Azy),  Paris,  Perrin. 

IX.— Stendhal  (Marie-Henri  Beyle)  [Grenoble,  1783  ;  f  1842, 

Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Journal  de  Stendhal,  Paris,  1888 ;   Vie  de  Henri 
Brillard,  Paris,  1890 ;  Souvenirs  d'egotisme,  1892,  posthumous  works 
published  by  M.  Casimir  Stryienski ; — E.  Colomb,  Notice  sur  la  vie  et 
les  ouvrages  de  Beyle,  preceding  Hetzel's  edition  of  the  Chartreuse  de 
Parme,  1846. 

H.  de  Balzac's  article  [1840]  printed  at  the  end  of  Hetzel's 
edition  of  the  Chartreuse  de  Parme; — P.  Merimee,  H.  B.,  Paris, 
1850; — Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  ix.,  1854; — Taine, 
Essais  de  critique  et  d'histoire,  Paris,  1857  [the  article  is  only 
to  be  found  in  the  2nd  edition]  ; — A.  Collignon,  L'art  et  la 
vie  de  Stendhal,  Paris,  1868 ; — A.  Paton,  Henri  Beyle,  London, 
1874  ;  —  Emile  Zola,  Les  romanciers  naturalistes,  1881 ;  —  P. 
Bourget,  Essais  de  psychologic  contemporaine,  Paris,  1883 ; — 
Edouard  Bod,  Stendhal,  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  fran9ais  "  series, 
Paris,  1892. 

2.  THE  WEITEK  ; — and  to  begin  with,  of  the  traces  there  are  in  his 
work  of  the  influence  of  the  Ideologists  and  even  of  the  Encyclo- 
pedists.— Stendhal's  first  masters  :  Montesquieu,  Marivaux,  Duclos, 
Helvetius,  Cabanis. — Henri  Beyle's  military  and  administrative  career 


MODERN   TIMES  4'25 

literary  works  which,  given  the  state  of  their  customs  or 
their  beliefs,  are  susceptible  of  procuring  them  the  greatest 
possible  degree  of  pleasure"  [Cf.  Racine  et  Shakespeare]. 
It  has  been  remarked,  however,  in  regard  to  this  declar- 
ation, that,  if  "  Eomanticism  "  were  merely  equivalent  to 
"  Modernism,"  Racine,  Boileau,  and  Voltaire  would  have 
been  Romanticists  in  their  time,  a  proposition  that  is 
wholly  indefensible.  Shall  we  recall  yet  other  defini- 
tions, that  of  Hugo  for  example  ?  After  asserting  in 
1824,  in  the  second  preface  to  the  Odes,  "that  he  was 
absolutely  ignorant  of  what  was  meant  by  the  Classic 
school  and  the  Romantic  school,"  he  nevertheless  defined 
Romanticism,  three  years  later,  in  the  preface  to  Crom- 

1800-1814 ; — and  that  he  acquired  early  an  experience  of  life  that  is 
uncommon  among  men  of  letters. — His  admiration  for  Napoleon 
[Cf.  Le  Rouge  et  le  Noir  and  his  Vie  de  Najjoleon] . — His  long 
residence  at  Milan,  1814-1817  and  1817-1821  [Cf.  the  Chartreues 
de  Panne,  chap,  i.,  and  the  celebrated  epitaph  :  Arriglw  Beyle, 
Milanese} — Stendhal's  early  writings:  Vies  de  Haydn,  Mozart  et 
Metastase,  1814,  2nd  edition,  1817 ; — and  the  Histoire  de  la  pein- 
ture  en  Italie,  1817. — His  relations  with  Lord  Byron  and  Destutt 
de  Tracy. — The  volume  entitled  Amour,  1822; — and  that  it  might 
easily  pass  for  a  work  of  the  eighteenth  century  ; — owing  to  the 
jejuneness  and  sustained  irony  of  its  tone ; — to  its  affectation  of 
cynicism ; — and  to  its  desultory  composition. — Still  the  influence  of 
Cabanis  is  plainly  discernible  in  the  work  [Cf.  Rapports  du  physique 
et  du  moral]  ; — which  contains,  moreover,  two  or  three  new  and 
original  elements ; — that  make  of  Stendhal  one  of  the  forerunners  of 
Romanticism. — His  intervention  in  the  quarrel :  Racine  et  Shakes- 
peare, 1823  ; — and  that  it  is  worth  noting  that  this  book  appeared  in 
part  in  an  English  magazine  ; — if  the  fact  may  be  taken  as  evidence 
of  Beyle's  cosmopolitanism. — The  Promenades  dans  Rome,  1829  ; — 
and  Le  Rouge  et  le  Noir,  1830. 

That  Stendhal,  besides  helping  in  a  general  way  to  direct  attention 
to  foreign  literatures,  supplied  Romanticism  with  the  three  essential 
principles  of  its  aesthetic  system,  even  although  he  may  not  have 
clearly  denned  them. — These  principles  are : — 1.  The  Principle  of  ihe 
equivalence  of  the  arts  ; — or  of  the  possibility  of  a  perpetual  exchange 


426    MANUAL   OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

well,  to  be  the  mingling  of  the  branches  of  literature,  the 
alternating  the  sublime  with  the  grotesque,  and  finally 
the  substitution,  as  the  ideal  of  art,  of  an  "  effort  to 
render  character"  for  the  realisation  of  beauty.  There 
are  further  the  ironical  definitions  contained  in  Musset's 
Lettres  de  Dupuis  et  Cotonet  (1836);  definitions  which, 
although  they  are  not  so  much  witty  as  intended  to  be 
so,  possess  the  great  advantage  over  all  the  others  of 
being  "  successive,"  and  thus  of  putting  the  question  as 
it  ought  to  be  put.  The  definition  of  Romanticism  is 
a  question  neither  of  etymology  nor  of  doctrine,  but  of 
history  ;  and  the  word  "Romanticism,"  having  in  itself 
no  principal  or  primary  signification,  merely  conveys  the 

of  their  respective  "  methods," — and,  in  consequence,  of  their  effects, 
— between  poetry,  painting,  and  music ; — 2.  the  Principle  that  the 
representation  of  character  is  the  essential  object  of  art ; — so  far  as 
character  is  the  expression  of  the  physiological  "  temperament  "  of 
individuals ; — and  of  nations ; — 3.  The  Principle  of  the  glorification 
of  energy  ; — if  his  admiration  for  Napoleon  ;— for  Italy  ; — and  for 
England  prove  essentially  that  he  sympathised  with  the  resistance  of 
individuals  to  the  conventions  and  laws  of  society. — He  was  also  one 
of  the  first  to  make  the  "  cultivation  of  the  individuality  "  the  law  of 
the  development  of  the  artist. 

It  was  due  to  other  and  different,  though  allied,  reasons  ; — that  he 
himself  outlived  Romanticism ; — for  instance  to  his  taste  for  minor  or 
precise  and  "  documentary  "  details ; — to  his  tendency  to  transform 
particular  incidents  into  laws  of  the  intelligence  or  of  nature  ; — to  his 
anonymous  or  impersonal  but,  in  particular,  "  analytic  "  manner  of 
writing ; — and  also,  indeed,  to  the  value  of  certain  of  his  observations. 
— It  may  be  questioned,  however,  whether  the  "  documentary  "  value, 
and  still  more  whether  the  literary  value,  of  the  Chartreuse  de  Parme, 
1839, — are  as  considerable  as  has  sometimes  been  maintained  ; — or, 
again,  whether  the  profoundness  of  the  work  is  not  often  more 
apparent  than  real  ? — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  strange  pretension 
of  ironists  to  make  the  reader  believe  that  merely  because  they  indulge 
in  raillery  he  ought  to  credit  them  with  being  thinkers. — Stendhal's 
last  works :  Vittoria  Accoramboni,  1837  ; — Les  Cenci  ;  La  duchesse 
de  Palliano,  1838 ; — L'Abbesse  de  Castro,  1839. — Stendhal's  letter  to 


MODERN   TIMES  427 

different  meanings  which  have  been  given  it  in  the  course 
of  history  ;  in  the  course,  that  is,  of  time,  by  men  and  by 
literary  works. 

Still,  in  spite  of  the  multiplicity  of  senses  which  have 
been  attributed  in  turn  to  Eomanticism  by  Hugo,  Dumas, 
Vigny,  Musset,  Saint-Beuve,  or  George  Sand, — to  omit 
minor  names, — and  of  the  diversity  of  its  characteristics, 
if  it  be  essayed  to  isolate  and  determine  a  single  feature 
that  shall  include  all  the  others,  there  would  not  seem 
to  be  room  for  long  hesitation.  Romanticism  is  above 
everything  else  the  triumph  in  literature  and  art  of  in- 
dividualism, the  entire  and  absolute  emancipation  of  the 
Ego.  Once  again  we  are  confronted  by  the  influence, 

Balzac,  1840 ; — and  the  two  sentences  of  it  that  have  become  famous : 
"  The  Chartreuse  de  Panne  is  written  in  the  style  of  the  Civil  Code  "  ; 
— and  :  "I  fancy  that  I  may  perhaps  meet  with  some  success  towards 
1880." 
3.  THE  WORKS. — Stendhal's  works  comprise  : 

(1)  His  novels,  all  of  which  we  have  mentioned  with  the  exception 
of  the  first :  Arrnance,  1827  ; — his  Chroniques  italiennes,  1855 ;  and 
Lamiel,  published  in  1888  by  M.  Stryienski ; 

(2)  His  critical  works  [art  criticism  or  li terary  criticism] ,  of  which 
the  principal  are  :  the   Vies  de  Haydn,  Mozart  et  Metastase,  1814- 
1817  [under  the  pseudonym  of  Louis  Cesar  Alexandre  Bombet]  ; — the 
Histoire  de  la  peinture   en  Italic,   1817,  by   M.  B.  A.  A. ; — Rome, 
Naples  et  Florence,  1817 ; — Racine  et  Shakespeare,  part  i.,  1823,  and 
part  ii.,  1825 ; — Vie  de  Rossini,  1824  ; — and  Promenades  dans  Rome, 
Paris,  1829  ; 

(3)  His  miscellaneous  works,  of  which  the  principal  are  :  L' Amour, 
1822  ; —  Memoires   d'un   touriste,    1838 ; —  his   correspondence,   two 
volumes  of  which  were  published  in  1855  ; — and  a  volume  of  Letters 
to  his  Sister,  1892. 

An  edition  of  his  complete  works  has  been  issued  in  13  volumes, 
followed  by  4  volumes  containing  his  posthumous  works,  Paris,  1853- 
1855,  Calmann  Levy.  There  have  since  been  added  the  Vie  de 
Napoleon,  1876  ;  and  the  five  or  six  volumes  published  by  M.  Casiruir 
Stryienski. 


428    MANUAL   OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

victorious  at  last  over  the  obstacles  that  had  long 
stood  in  its  way,  of  Rousseau  and  Chateaubriand.  Each 
of  us,  according  to  the  Romanticists,  is  his  own  un- 
disputed master.  The  artist  and  the  poet,  as  such, 
are  subject  to  but  one  law  and  as  men  have  but  one 
duty :  it  is  incumbent  on  them  to  reveal  themselves 
in  their  works.  Their  contemporaries  may  ask  no 
more  of  them,  and  they  themselves  can  accomplish 
no  more  without  being  wanting  in  the  respect  they 
owe  in  some  sort  to  their  own  originality.  But  as  we 
have  insisted  on  this  point,  on  various  occasions,  so 
strongly  that  we  may  deem  it  useless  to  again  lay  stress 
on  it,  we  shall  content  ourselves  with  adding  that  between 

X. — Alphonse-Marie-Louis  Prat  de  Lamartine  [Macon, 
1790;  f!869,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Lamartine's  correspondence,  edited  by  Mme 
Valentine  de  Lamartine,  1st  edition,  1873-1875 ;  and  2nd  edition, 
1881-1882  [completer  but  still  very  incomplete]  ; — his  Confidences, 
1849  ; — his  Nouvelles  confidences,  1851 ; — his  Memoires  inedits  [1790- 
1815] ,  1870 ; — and  the  Manuscrit  de  ma  mere,  1871. 

Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  contemporains,  vol.  i.,  1832,  1836, 1839  ;  and 
Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  i.,  1849  ;  and  vol.  iv.,  1851 ; — A.  Vinet, 
Etudes  sur  la  litterature  francaise  au  XIXs  siecle,  vol.  ii.,  1845 ; — 
Gustave  Planche's  articles  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  June,  1851, 
November,  1859  ; — Cuvillier-Fleury,  Dernieres  etudes  litteraires,  1859, 
— Victor  de  Laprade,  Le  sentiment  de  la  nature  chez  les  modernes, 
1868 ; — Eugene  Pelletan,  Lamartine,  sa  vie  et  ses  oeuvres,  Paris,  1869 ; 
Ch.  de  Mazade,  Lamartine,  sa  vie  litteraire  et  2)olitique,  Paris,  1870 ; 
— Emile  OUivier,  Lamartine,  Paris,  1874  ; — Ernest  Legouve,  Soixante 
ans  de  souvenirs,  Paris,  1876 ; — •  Ch.  Alexandre,  Souvenirs  sur 
Lamartine,  Paris,  1884  ; — F.  Brunetiere,  La  poesie  de  Lamartine,  in 
the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  August,  1886 ;  and  Devolution  de  la 
poesie  lyrique,  vol.  i.,  1894  ; — Em.  Faguet,  XIXC  siecle,  1887  ; — Ch.  de 
Pomairols,  Lamartine,  Paris,  1889 ; — Chamborand  de  Perissat, 
Lamartine  inconnu,  1891 ; — F.  de  Reyssie,  La  Jeunesse  de  Lamar- 
tine, Paris,  1892  ; — Em.  Deschanel,  Lamartine,  Paris,  1893  ; — Jules 
Lemaitre,  Les  contemporains,  vol.  vi.,  1895 ; — E.  Zyromski,  Lamartine, 
poete  lyrique,  Paris,  1896. 


MODERN    TIMES  429 

1825  and  1835  there  was  nothing, — from  the  example  of 
Byron  to  the  "  subjective  idealism  "  of  Fichte, — that  did 
not  concur  to  favour  this  development  of  individualism. 
Moreover,  this  is  precisely  why,  of  all  the  characteristics  of 
Romanticism,  none  is  more  essential  than  individualism  : 
by  which  I  mean  that  none  better  explains  the  causes  of 
its  rise  and  fall  and  the  nature  of  the  reaction  it  was 
destined  to  provoke. 

The  truth  is  that  all  the  other  matters  about  which 
so  much  noise  was  made — hostility  to  Classicism,  liberty, 
truth  in  art,  local  colour,  the  imitation  of  foreign  litera- 
tures— merely  served  to  cover  or  disguise  the  primary 
preoccupation  of  the  period,  which  was  self -exhibition. 

2.  THE  POET, — and  that  whatever  may  have  been  his  role  in  other 
fields, — whatever  disdain  he  may  have  affected  at  times  for  poetry ; — 
and  finally  whatever  be  the  service  he  may  have  rendered  France  on 
one  memorable  occasion ; — his  glory  will  always  be  that  he  is  the 
author  of  the  Meditations  and  the  Harmonies ; — and  not  that  he 
wrote  the  Histoire  de  la  Restauration,  or  even  the  Histoire  des 
Girondins. 

His  birth  and  education  [Cf.  his  Correspondence,  which  is  full  of 
precious  information].  —  Lamartine's  family;  —  and  of  a  remark 
of  Sainte-Beuve's :  "  that  it  is  an  excellent  thing  to  come  of 
a  sound  stock."  —  The  sentiment  of  nature ; — and  that  to  possess 
it  Lamartine  had  no  need  to  acquire  it ; — as  he  was  imbued  with 
it  from  his  childhood  upwards. — The  religious  sentiment ; — and  how 
much  more  sincere  it  is  in  Lamartine  than  in  Chateaubriand ; — 
or  at  least  more  "innate"; — and  perhaps,  too,  more  favourable  to 
poetry. — Natural  nobleness  of  Lamartine's  imagination. — His  early 
verses  [Cf.  his  Correspondence]  ; — and  their  resemblance  with  those 
of  Chenedolle^ ; — but  still  more  with  those  of  Parny. — The  Elvire 
of  the  Meditations  [Cf.  A.  France,  L'Elvire  de  Lamartine] . — 
His  essays  in  dramatic  writing  and  his  relations  with  Talma. — The 
publication  of  the  Meditations,  1819. — They  produce  an  incomparably 
greater  effect  than  the  poems  of  Chenier,  1819  ; — and  give  a  new  trend 
to  poetry. — The  Nouvelles  Meditations,  and  the  Mort  de  Socrate, 
1823. — Stay  in  Italy. — The  Dernier  chant  du  pelerinage  de  Childe 
Harold,  1825. — Lamartine  French  charge  d'affaires  at  Florence. — He 


430    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATURE 

Victor  Hugo  and  Musset,  the  elder  Dumas  and  George 
Sand,  confined  their  imitation  of  Goethe  or  Byron 
to  copying  their  practice  of  living  their  novels,  of 
"  romancifying "  their  lives,  of  introducing  themselves 
into  their  works,  of  relating  and  publicly  confessing 
their  love  affairs,  after  the  manner  of  Goethe  in 
Werther,  and  of  Byron  in  Don  Juan :  they  did  not 
imitate  either  the  rare  perseverance  with  which  Goethe 
endeavoured  to  perfect  his  individuality  or  the  heroic 
death  of  Byron.  Similarly,  if  we  examine  what  con- 
stituted liberty  in  their  eyes, — liberty  in  art,  and  not  the 
liberty  of  art,  which  are  two  very  different  things, — it 
doubtless  consisted  neither  in  the  right  to  choose  their 

composes  the  Harmonies ; — returns  to  Paris. — Reception  at  the 
French  Academy ;  —  publication  of  the  Harmonies,  1830.  —  He 
retires  from  his  official  position  on  the  morrow  of  the  Revolution 
of  1830; — and  publishes  his  first  political  writing. — He  is  a  candi- 
date in  the  Var,  but  fails  to  be  elected ; — he  leaves  for  the  East ; 
— his  meeting  with  Lady  Esther  Stanhope. — Return  to  France, 
1833 ; — publication  of  the  Voyage  en  Orient,  1835 ; — and  of  Jocelyn, 
1836. 

A.  The  Meditations. — Of  the  general  character  of  the  first  Medita- 
tions ; — and  that  when  they  are  compared  with  Beranger's  Songs  (1816- 
1824) ; — a  comparison  that  is  almost  a  sacrilege ; — or  even  with  the 
Elegies  of  Chenier  (1819) ; — their  most  novel  feature  is  found  to  be 
that  their  author  returns  to  the  genuine  lyric  "  themes  "  ; — which  are 
Nature,  Love,  and  Death ; — themes  he  treats  with  as  much  eleva- 
tion as    there    is    sensuality  in   Chenier's   verses ; — and   sniggering 
"  gauloiserie  "  or  sly  epicurism  in  Beranger's  songs. — The  Mort  de 
Socrate ; — and   of   Lamennais'  aptitude  for  philosophic  poetry    [Cf. 
Voltaire  in  his  Discours  sur  Vhomme] . — The  Nouvelles  Meditations 
[Cf.  M.  Pomairols,  Lamartine]  ; — and  that  this  work,  while  offering 
the  characteristics  of  the  first  volume  of  Meditations,  is  further  dis- 
tinguished by  the  union  of  more  grace  [Cf.  Ischia]  with  more  vigour 
[Cf.  le  Crucifix]  ;  —  and  not  less  sincerity  with  greater  virtuosity 
[Cf.  les  Preludes]  ; — while  it  is  at  once  the  noblest  and  the  most 
voluptuous  work  in  French  poetry. 

B.  Jocelyn ; — and  that  it  has  the  merit  in  the  first  place  ; — and  the 


MODERN    TIMES  431 

subjects,  since  no  objection  had  been  raised  when  Vol- 
taire had  gone  for  his  subjects  to  America  or  China; 
nor  in  the  right  to  write  prose  dramas,  since  Cromwell, 
Hernant,  Christini,  Othello,  are  in  verse;  nor  even  in 
the  right  to  violate  the  "rules,"  since  what  "rules" 
can  be  said  to  have  been  in  force  in  connection  with 
the  elegy,  the  ode,  or  the  novel,  and  Cinq-Mars,  the 
Orientates,  Notre-Dame  de  Paris,  the  Confessions  de 
Joseph  Delorme,  are  they,  or  are  they  not,  Romantic 
works  ?  In  short,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  Eoman- 
ticists  understood  liberty  merely  as  the  right  to  be 
themselves  in  everything,  to  subordinate  the  "  sove- 
reignty "  of  the  artist  to  no  authority  whatever,  and  to 

merit  is  a  real  one; — of  being  the  only  "poem"  of  any  considerable 
length  that  exists  in  French. — Of  the  subject  of  Jocelyn; — and  of 
certain  objections  that  have  been  urged  in  this  connection  [Cf.  on  this 
point  the  articles  of  Vinet  and  Em.  Deschanel  for  one  side  of  the 
argument  and  those  of  Sainte-Beuve  and  J.  Lemaitre  for  the  other] . 
— That  to  blame  Lamartine  for  not  having  married  Jocelyn  and 
Laurence ; — is  to  blame  Corneille  for  having  separated  Polyeucte  and 
Pauline ; — and  to  forget  that  beyond  a  doubt  Corneille  wrote  his 
drama  and  Lamartine  his  poem  solely  with  a  view  to  bringing 
about  this  "  separation." — Of  a  comparison  Sainte-Beuve  has  made 
between  the  "  country  clergyman's  poetry,"  which  he  pretends  to 
admire  particularly  hi  Jocelyn ;  —  and  Wordsworth's  poetry ;  —  and 
that  to  adopt  this  attitude  is  to  praise  Jocelyn  for  its  least  merit ;-  — 
for  while  the  work  really  possesses  the  merit  hi  question ; — and  is 
traversed  by  a  vein  of  familiar  poetry ; — it  also  bears  the  imprint  of 
the  poet  of  the  Meditations ; — of  his  sentiment  of  nature ; — and  of 
his  conception  of  love,  always  as  chaste  in  its  expression  as  it  is  ardent 
hi  its  passion. — The  work,  too,  displays  that  exuberance  of  inspiration 
and  that  descriptive  facility  which  can  only  be  found  fault  with  on 
the  score  that  they  tend  to  develop  themselves  towards  an  abusive 
degree. — Finally,  Jocelyn  is  illustrative  of  that  "  philosophic  "  side 
of  Lamartine's  poetry ; — which  we  have  already  referred  to  in  con- 
nection with  the  Meditations ;  —  and  which  reminds  the  reader  in 
places  of  Fenelon. 

C.  The  Harmonies ; — and  that  having  appeared  before  Jocelyn ; — 


432    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

recognise  no  law  beyond  that  of  their  caprice  or  their 
fancy : 

Toujours  le  cceur  humain  pour  modele  et  pour  maitre  ! 
Le  coeur  humain  de  qui  ?     Le  coeur  humain  de  quoi  ? 
Quand  le  diable  y  serait,  j'ai  mon  "  coeur  humain  "  moi ! 

Finally,  if  it  has  been  possible  to  assert — and  I  believe  I 
have  myself  made  the  remark — that  Romanticism  was 
in  every  respect  the  exact  opposite  of  Classicism,  the 
essential,  the  sole  reason  is  that  Classicism  had  made  the 
impersonality  of  a  work  of  art  one  of  the  conditions  of 
its  perfection. 

This  liberty  for  the  artist  to  be  himself  and  nothing 

if  we  deal  with  them  after  that  poem ; — the  reason  is  that  "  being 
written  as  they  were  felt,  neither  connectedly  nor  consecutively"  ; — 
they  are  the  very  essence  of  Larnartine's  poetry ; — when  instead  of 
being  kept  under  jealous  control  it  is  allowed  to  vent  itself  freely. — 
The  Harmonies  show  the  fundamental  character  of  Lainartine's 
poetry ; — which  consists  in  an  inability  to  set  itself  a  limit ; — and  in 
a  tendency  towards  philosophy; — and  what  is  more,  pantheistic 
philosophy ; — and  towards  vagueness  and  indeterminateness  in  con- 
sequence of  its  exuberance. — At  the  same  time  the  object  of  this 
remark  is  not  to  belittle  the  Harmonies; — since  Lamartine,  while 
following  the  general  inspiration,  attains  in  some  passages  to  as 
great  a  precision  as  anywhere  in  his  work  [Cf.  Le  premier  regret, 
Milly  ou  la  terre  natale]  ; — but  to  show  him  losing  his  self-con- 
trol ; — unconcerned  henceforth  either  with  selecting  his  ideas ; — 
or  with  restraining  the  ever  more  abundant  flow  of  his  improvisa- 
tion ; — and  thus  getting  ready  to  write  La  chute  (Tun  ange.  Whether 
it  is  to  be  regretted  that  Lamartine  turned  his  attention  to  politics ; 
— and  that  in  any  case,  from  the  moment  of  his  doing  so  his  poetic 
inspiration  seems  to  have  been,  if  not  dried  up,  assuredly  "un- 
personalised." — However,  he  continues  to  occupy  a  place  in  the 
history  of  literature ; — in  virtue  of  some  of  his  speeches  [Cf.  L.  de 
Bonchaud,  La  politique  de  Lamartine,  Paris,  1878]  ; — of  certain 
of  his  presentiments  [Cf.  E.  M.  de  Vogue,  Heures  dhistoire,  Paris, 
1893]  ; — of  his  Histoire  des  Girondins,  1847 ; — a  work  in  which 
history  is  doubtless  strangely  distorted ; — but  certain  pages  of  which 


MODEEN    TIMES  433 

but  himself,  or  to  "refract"  in  himself  the  universe,  is 
also  the  explanation  of  the  exuberance,  richness,  and 
brilliancy  of  Romantic  lyricism.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  French  language  superior  to  Lamartine's  Medita- 
tions, to  certain  of  the  finest  of  Hugo's  odes,  —  from 
the  Deux  lies  (1824)  to  the  Mages  (1856),  — or  to  the 
Nuits  of  Alfred  de  Musset.  If  these  very  great  poets 
do  not  always  interest  us  when  they  talk  of  themselves, 
they  never  interest  us  except  when  they  talk  of  them- 
selves ;  or  rather  the  happenings  in  history  and  in  life 
by  which  they  themselves  were  stirred  are  the  origin 
and  the  theme  of  their  songs,  which  do  not  interest  us 
when  they  make  them  the  vehicle  merely  of  what  is 

could  only  have  been  written  by  a  poet ; — and  finally  in  virtue  of 
his  personal  novels  :  Raphael,  1849  ; — the  Confidences,  1849  ; — the 
Nouvelles  Confidences,  1851 ; — Graziella,  1852. — Eeduced  henceforth 
to  "  writing  for  the  booksellers," — his  books  and  newspaper  articles 
contain,  no  doubt,  some  reminiscences  of  his  past ; — and  in  particular 
display  more  critical  acumen  and  judgment  than  it  is  somewhat  the 
fashion  to  allow ; — but  he  has  ceased  to  influence  opinion ; — and  his 
literary  role  is  terminated  nearly  fifteen  years  before  his  death. 
3.  THE  WORKS. — Lamartine's  Works  comprise  : 

(1)  His  poetry  :  the  Meditations,  1819  ; — Lamort  de  Socrate,  1823; 
— the    Nouvelles    Meditations,  1823; — the  Dernier  chant  du  pele- 
rinage  de  Childe -Harold,  1825 ; — the  Harmonies  poetiques  et  reli- 
gieuses,    1830; — Jocelyn,    1836; — La  chute  d'un  ange,  1838; — the 
Recueillements  poetiques,  1839. 

To  the  above  must  be  added  the  volume  of  Poesies  inedites, 
published  in  1873  ;  and  a  certain  number  of  youthful  poems  scattered 
through  the  first  volume  of  his  Correspondence  ; 

(2)  His  novels  :  Raphael,  1849  ; — Genevieve,  1850  ; — Le  tailleur  de 
pier  res  de  Saint-Point,  1851 ; — Graziella,  1852; — and  [although  these 
works  contain  a  large  amount  of  truth  mixed  up  with  a  great  deal 
of  imagination] , — the    Confidences,  1849  ; — and   the  Nouvelles  Con- 
fidences, 1851 ; 

(3)  The  Voyage  en  Orient,  1832-1833 ; 

(4)  The  Histoire   des   Girondins,  1847 ; — and   the  Histoire  de  la 
Restauration,  1852,  &c. ; 


434    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY    OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

most  singular  in  their  own  nature ;  whereas  our  entire 
being  thrills  in  harmony  with  their  utterances  when  we 
find  they  express  our  own  emotions  reverberated,  ampli- 
fied and  multiplied  by  the  echo  of  their  voice.  It  may  be 
said  indeed  that  they  were  the  first  to  reveal  to  us  that 
highest  order  of  lyric  poetry  of  which  Eonsard  had 
had  but  the  presentiment,  while  Malherbe,  by  striking 
off  in  the  direction  of  eloquence,  had  reduced  it  to 
a  matter  of  laws.  But  the  question  arises,  what  is 
the  difference  between  eloquence  and  lyricism,  seeing 
that  both  are  characterised  by  the  same  "  movements," 
the  same  "  imagery,"  and  the  same  "  qualities  of 
language "  ?  There  is  perhaps  but  one,  and  it  is  at 
the  same  time  a  very  slight  and  a  very  great  difference. 

(5)  The  Correspondance ; 

(6)  The  Cours  familier  de  litterature, 

There  are  several  editions  of  Lamartine's  complete  works  :  that 
published  by  Gosselin  in  13  vols.,  Paris,  1840  ; — that  by  Furne,  8  vols., 
Paris,  1845-1849  [in  reality  these  editions  contain  only  the  political 
works  and  the  Voyage  en  Orient] ;— and  that  published  by  the  author 
in  40  vols.,  Paris,  Rue  de  la  Ville-l'Eveque,  1860-1863  [which  contains 
neither  the  Correspondence  nor  the  whole  of  the  Cours  famiUer  de 
litterature] . 

XI.— The  Soroonne  Triumvirate  [1815-1830] . 

Of  the  similarity  between  the  careers  of  Fra^ois  Guizot  [Nirues, 
1787  ;  f  1874,  Val-Richer]  ;— Abel  Villemain  [Paris,  1790  ;  f  1870, 
Paris]  ; — and  Victor  Cousin  [Paris,  1792  ;  f  1867,  Cannes]  ; — and  that 
it  lies  less  in  their  having  all  three  used  literature  as  a  stepping  stone  ; 
— in  their  having  all  three  been  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  ; — or 
even  in  their  having  all  three  of  them  been  professors  at  the  Sorbonne 
and  at  the  same  period  ; — than  in  their  having  aroused  the  same  mis- 
trust or  the  same  enthusiasm  by  their  teaching ; — spread  the  fame  of 
"  professorial "  eloquence  until  it  rivalled  that  of  the  eloquence  of  the 
pulpit,  the  tribune,  or  the  bar ; — and  given  the  same  trend  to  philo- 
sophy and  literary  criticism. — For  this  reason  they  should  be  taken 
together ; — and  also  because,  not  being  very  original,  they  were  less 
genuine  innovators  than  the  eloquent  spokesmen  of  the  "common 


MODERN   TIMES  435 

While  the  orator  endeavours  to  give  the  most  general 
expression  possible  to  his  emotions  so  as  to  reach  the 
widest  and  most  varied  audience,  the  poet,  on  the  con- 
trary, aims  at  giving  the  most  individual  expression  he 
is  able  to  the  emotions  that  are  common  to  everybody. 
Such,  at  any  rate,  was  the  mode  of  proceeding  of  Musset, 
Hugo,  and  Lamartine,  and,  longo  intervallo,  of  the  poet 
of  lambes  or  of  that  of  the  Confessions  de  Joseph  Delorme. 
Yet  all  these  writers  have  been  reproached  with  being  in 
general  rather  orators  than  poets.  The  reproach  is  based 
on  a  misconception  at  once  of  the  conditions  of  lyricism 
and  of  the  principle  of  Romanticism.  If  the  writers  in 
question  are  indeed  the  greatest  of  our  lyric  poets,  the 
reason  is  that  of  all  our  poets  they  are  the  most  per- 

ideas  "  of  their  times  :— less  "  thinkers  "  than  "  vulgarisers  "  ; — while 
at  least  two  of  them  were  "  rhetoricians  "  rather  than  genuine  orators 
— the  exception  being  Guizot. 

All  three  contributed  to  arouse  curiosity  in  foreign  literature  and 
affairs  : — Guizot  by  his  translations  of  Shakespeare  and  Gibbon ; — and 
by  his  Histories,  in  writing  which  he  had  England  perpetually  in  his 
mind's  eye  ; — Villemain,  by  the  most  celebrated  of  his  series  of  lectures, 
the  Cours  de  litterature  frangaise  au  XVIIP  siecle ;  —  in  which 
English  writers  and,  in  particular,  English  political  orators  occupy  as 
much  space  as  French  authors  ; — and  Cousin  by  his  "  adaptations  "  of 
the  philosophy  of  Reid  or  Dugald- Stewart  and  of  the  metaphysics  of 
Schelling  and  Hegel. — All  three  indulged  in  general  criticism; — or 
rather  in  "  eclecticism  "  ; — Villemain  in  literature  and  with  the  greater 
acumen  ; —  Cousin  in  philosophy  and  with  the  more  ardour  ; —  and 
Guizot  in  history  and  in  the  more  formal  spirit ; — but  without  possess- 
ing, in  reality,  in  Guizot's  case  a  personal  method ; — hi  Cousin's  an 
original  philosophy  ; — in  Villernain's  an  artistic  doctrine ; — and  rely- 
ing merely  on  the  guidance  afforded  them  by  their  "  Liberalism.  "- 
However,  if  literary  criticism,  prior  to  Villemain,  was  based  almost 
exclusively  on  the  individual  humour  of  the  critic ; — philosophy,  prior 
to  Cousin,  on  the  supposed  necessity  of  having  recourse  to  it  to  combat 
or  bolster  up  this  or  that  set  of  opinions ; — and  history,  prior  to 
Guizot,  on  the  desire  to  find  in  the  past  arguments  applicable  to  the 
present ; — all  three  caused  general  criticism  to  achieve  considerable 


436    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

sonal ;  and  because  they  are  the  most  personal,  they  are 
the  most  Komantic  of  our  poets. 

Their  irresistible  leaning  to  take  themselves  as  their 
subject  matter  is,  lastly,  the  starting-point  of  all  the  in- 
novations it  is  only  just  to  credit  them  with.  If  they 
rendered  more  pliant,  if  they,  in  a  way,  broke  up  the 
classic  alexandrine,  the  reason  is  that  it  was  to  thought 
and  still  more  to  the  feelings  a  sort  of  sheath  or  armour, 
whose  rigidity  lent  itself  ill  to  the  exigencies  of  what 
is  most  personal  in  thought  and  in  the  feelings.  De- 
sirous of  expressing  the  more  inward  emotions,  the 
Romanticists  stood  in  need  of  greater  freedom  of  move- 
ment, and  it  was  to  secure  it,  and  to  no  other  end,  that 
they  reformed  the  alexandrine.  They  also  felt  the 

progress  by  making  it  rest  on  principles  which,  though  more  or  less 
debatable,  were  regarded  at  any  rate  as  scientific.— Finally,  all  three  by 
their  manner  of  treating  history,  philosophy,  and  literary  criticism, — 
brought  into  view  the  solidarity  that  exists  between  the  elements  of  the 
same  civilisation  : — Guizot  by  including  history,  literature,  and  philoso- 
phy in  his  historical  generalisations ; — Cousin  by  showing  the  connection 
between  Condillac's  philosophy  and  the  general  spirit  of  the  eighteenth 
century  ; — and  Villemain  by  mingling  history  and  literature. 

All  three  of  them  too,  though  in  different  ways, — helped  to  direct 
"  the  century  of  criticism  and  history  "  into  the  path  it  was  to  follow  ; 
— to  freshen  the  atmosphere  of  the  higher  French  scholastic  establish- 
ments ; — and  to  bring  the  French  educational  programme  into  harmony 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age. — As  they  all  lived  to  a  considerable  age  ; — 
and  exercised  as  Ministers,  Councillors,  and  Academicians  a  great 
influence, — they  each  of  them  formed  a  school ;— and  brought  the 
university  into  touch  with  "  society  "  ; — from  which  it  may  be  said  to 
have  been  isolated  for  two  centuries. — They  also  caused  their  own 
special  studies  to  be  accorded  a  place  in  "  general  literature  "  ; — and 
in  this  respect,  since  they  did  not  confine  their  attention  to  France ; — 
but  followed  the  example  set  by  Mme  de  Stael ; — their  influence  was 
European  as  well  as  national ; — and  if  only  on  this  score  they  played 
their  part,  from  amid  the  seclusion  of  the  Sorbonne,  in  the  formation 
of  Romanticism ; — so  far  as  that  movement  was  an  effort  to  emanci- 
pate literature  from  purely  classic  tradition. 


MODERN   TIMES  437 

necessity  of  a  more  extended  vocabulary.  In  this  connec- 
tion the  following  lines  of  Victor  Hugo  may  be  recalled : 
"  When,  in  an  effort  to  understand  and  to  judge,  I  looked 
on  nature  and  on  art,  the  language  was  the  image  of  the 
kingdom  with  its  vulgar  sort  and  its  nobility ;  poetry 
was  the  monarchy,  a  word  was  a  duke  and  peer,  or  a  mere 
common  fellow."  The  reason  for  what  the  poet  says  in 
these  famous  verses  has  been  seen  above.  It  is  that  at 
the  period  to  which  he  refers  even  nature  was  merely 
expressed  as  a  function  of  man,  and  man  as  a  function  of 
society.  From  the  moment,  however,  that  the  individual 
was  allowed  to  be  wholly  himself,  these  distinctions 
disappeared  with  the  doctrine  of  which  they  were  the 
expression ;  every  word  which  helped  the  writer  to  niani- 

XII.— Jacques -Nicolas -Augustin  Thierry    [Blois,  1795  ;f 

1856,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Augustin  Thierry,  Dix  ans  d'etudes  historiques, 
preface  of  1840; — Charles  Magnin,  Augustin  Thierry,  in  the  Revue 
des  Deux  Mondes,  May,  1841 ; — -A.  Nettement,  Histoire  de  la  litter - 
ature  franqaise  sous   la  Bestauration,  1853  ; — Ernest  Benan,  Ensais 
de  morale  et  de  critique,  1857 ; — Pierre  Dufay  and  Rene  Bibour,  Li 
Centenaire  d' Augustin  Thierry,  Blois,  1895. 

2.  THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  HISTORY  ;— and  that  it  is  no   going  too 
far  to  attribute  it  to  Augustin  Thierry  ; — the  bent  of  whose  mind  was 
not  greatly  influenced, — it  should  be  remarked  in  the  first  place, — 
either   by  the  fact  that  he  was  for  a  time  a  student  at  the  then 
recently  founded  Ecole   Normale  Superieure ; — or  by  his   relations 
with  Saint- Simon  ; — and  the  Liberal  newspapers  of  the  period  (1820) ; 
— the  Courier  frangais,  for  instance. — It  was  to  begin  with  Chateau- 
briand ; — and  afterwards  Walter  Scott,  who  revealed  to  him  his  true 
vocation ; — which  was  :  (1)  to  introduce  into  history  the  sentiment  of 
the  diversity  of  epochs ; — all,  or  almost  all,  of  which  had  hitherto 
been  confounded  owing  to  the  uniformity  with  which  they  had  been 
depicted  ; — (2)  to  introduce  into  history,  through  the  medium  oi  the 
doctrine  of  the  irreducibleness  of  races,  a  sort  of  physiological  fatal- 
ism ; — but  also  a  leaven  of  poetry  ; — since,  as  we  saw  in  connection 
with  the  Mediaeval  epopee, — all  epopees  are  the  expression  of  a  racial 


438    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE 

fest  his  personality  passed  muster ;  and  individualism  in 
literature  as  in  politics  ended  in  equality.  And  finally, 
was  it  not  inevitable  that  in  prose,  as  in  verse,  liberty  in 
the  choice  of  words  should  be  followed  by  liberty  as 
regards  the  turning  of  the  sentence,  a  more  varied 
vocabulary  by  a  more  pliant  phraseology,  a  revolution 
in  the  language  by  a  revolution  in  syntax? 

Komanticism  in  short,  from  whatever  point  of  view  it 
be  regarded,  is  found  to  mean  individualism ;  or  it  may 
be  said  that  lyricism  is  the  medium  by  means  of  which 
individualism  came  forth  out  of  Romanticism — and  vice 
versa.  Further  proof  of  this  assertion  is  found  in  the 
contagious  rapidity  with  which  all  three  overran,  per- 
vaded, and  transformed  every  branch  of  literature  between 

conflict ; — and  (3)  finally,  to  show  that  aj>  active  preoccupation  with 
the  present  throws  a  flood  of  light  on  the  obscurities  of  the  past ; — 
and  leads  to  an  understanding  of  their  true  significance. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Augustin  Thierry's  works  comprise  : — 

(1)  His  Lettres  sur  I'histoire  de  France,  1820,  augmented,  cor- 
rected, and  printed  in  volume  form  in  1827  ; — (2)  his  Histoire  de  la 
conquete  de  V Angleterre  par  les  Normands,  1825,  his  principal  work  ; 
— (3)  his  Considerations  sur  I'histoire  de  France,  which  is  an  intro- 
duction to  the  Recits  des  temps  merovingiens,  1840 ; — and  (4)  his 
Essai  sur  la  formation  et  le  progres  du  Tiers-Etat,  1853. 

The  volume  entitled  Dix  ans  d'etudes  Jiistoriques,  published  in 
1834,  contains,  besides  the  Lettres  sur  I'histoire  de  France  [new 
edition],  essays  on  various  subjects,  historical,  literary,  and  philo- 
sophic. 

There  are  two  editions  of  Augustin  Thierry's  complete  works  : 
Paris,  1859,  Furne;— and  Paris,  1883,  F.  Didot. 

XIII.— Romantic  Drama. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — G.  Schlegel,  Cours  de  litterature  dramatique, 
1814 ; — F.  Guizot's  preface  to  Letourneur's  reprint  of  his  Shakespeare, 
Paris,  1821 ; — Stendhal,  Racine  et  Shakespeare,  Paris,  1823-1825  ; — 
Ch.  Magnin,  Le  theatre  anglais  a  Paris,  1827-1828  [in  his  Causeries 
et  Meditations,  vol.  ii.,  Paris,  1843]  ; — Benjamin  Constant,  De 
Wallenstein  et  du  theatre  allemand,  in  his  Melanges,  Paris,  1829 ; — 


MODERN   TIMES  439 

1830  and  1840.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that 
the  plays  of  Hugo,  of  Musset,  and  of  Dumas  himself,  that 
such  fiction  as  Vigny's  Stello,  as  George  Sand's  Indiana, 
Valentine,  or  Lelia,  as  the  Confession  d'un  Enfant  du 
siecle,  are  at  once  the  most  "Romantic"  and  the  most 
"personal"  works  in  French  literature.  The  same  must 
be  said  of  Lamartine's  Eapliael  and  of  his  Graziella. 
These  writings  in  truth,  to  borrow  Du  Bellay's  expres- 
sion, are  "  merely  the  diaries  of  or  the  commentaries  on  " 
their  authors'  impressions  of  every  description  !  But  a 
circumstance  still  more  worthy  of  attention  is  the  fact 
that  a  like  tendency  is  observable  even  in  criticism.  The 
early  writings  of  Sainte-Beuve,  the  Portraits  litteraires, 
or  the  Portraits  contemporains, — at  least  when  the  writer 

Fauriel,  Carmagnola  et  Adelghis,  two  of  Manzoni's  tragedies,  fol- 
lowed by  a  study  entitled  TJne  lettre  a  M.  C.  sur  P  Unite  de  temps  et 
de  lieu,  Paris,  1834  [Cf.  Waille,  Le  romantisme  de  Manzoni,  Algiers, 
1890]. 

The  prefaces  of  N.  Lernercier ;  Alexandre  Dumas ;  Alfred  de  Vigny ; 
Victor  Hugo,  &c. 

Jules  Janin,  Histoire  de  la  litterature  dramatique,  Paris,  1853- 
1858 ; — Gustave  Planche's  dramatic  criticisms  in  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes,  1832-1857 ; — Theophile  Gautier,  Histoire  de  Vart  dramatique, 
Paris,  1859  ; — Saint-Marc  Girardin,  Cours  de  litterature  dramatique, 
Paris,  1853. 

2.  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  ROMANTICISM  IN  THE  DRAMA;  and  that  its 
principle  will  be  sought  for  in  vain  in  the  appropriation  of  English  or 
German  plays  ; — in  the  introduction  on  to  the  French  stage  of  national 
subjects  ; — or  in  the  employment  of  exotic  backgrounds. — Romanti- 
cism, as  far  as  the  drama  is  concerned,  consisted  in  proceeding  in 
everything  on  exactly  contrary  lines  to  Classicism ; — in  denying  the 
existence  of  the  "  rules  "  ; — and  in  claiming  a  liberty,  the  first  effect 
of  which  was  to  lower  tragedy  to  the  level  of  melodrama. — The 
accuracy  of  this  view  may  be  established  by  considering  the  ground 
traversed, — by  Vigny  between  Othello,  1829,  and  Chatterton,  1835 ; — 
by  Hugo  between  Cromwell,  1827,  and  the  Burgraves,  1843 ; — and 
by  Dumas  between  Henri  III.  et  sa  cour,  1829,  and  Mademoiselle  de 
Belle-Isle,  1839. — A  second  characteristic  of  Romantic  drama  is  that 


440    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

is  to  some  extent  sincere, — are  merely  the  diary  of  the 
literary  impressions  of  Joseph  Delorme.  And  how  shall 
we  describe  Michelet's  Histories,  if  not  as  the  lyric  nota- 
tion of  the  emotions  their  author  experienced  as  he  lived 
over  again,  in  the  peaceful  silence  of  the  archives,  the 
shame  or  the  glory  of  the  past  ?  To  these  names  I  would 
add  those  of  Lacordaire  and  Berryer,  were  it  not  that, 
although  the  great  preacher  and  the  great  orator  have 
only  been  dead  some  thirty  or  forty  years,  their  works 
have  become  almost  unreadable. 

A  reaction  was  inevitable.  "  Men  are  made  to  live 
together  and  to  form  civil  bodies  and  societies.  But  it 
must  be  remarked  that  none  of  the  individuals  who 
compose  these  societies  will  consent  to  be  regarded 

it  breathes  a  spirit  of  revolt  which,— without  its  being  necessary  to  go 
as  far  as  the  lucubrations  of  Felix  Pyat, — is  easily  recognisable  in 
Dumas'  Antony,  1831  ; — in  Victor  Hugo's  Le  roi  s' 'amuse,  1832  ;— 
and  even  in  Vigny's  Chatterton,  1835. — But  since  the  most  unbridled 
liberty  ends  inevitably  in  fashioning  a  code  for  itself, — a  final  char- 
acteristic of  Romantic  drama  is  the  affirmation  of  the  sovereignty 
of  passion ; — and  the  glorification  of  crime  under  the  name  of 
energy. 

Happily,  while  their  imitators,  a  Frederic  Soulie  for  example, — carry 
the  doctrine  to  extremes, — Vigny  is  saved  from  its  consequences  by 
the  natural  elevation  of  his  character ; — Hugo  by  his  lyricism,  which 
in  Hernani  or  Buy  Bias  raises  him  above  his  subject ; — and  Dumas 
by  the  fertility  of  his  dramatic  invention. — It  thus  happens  that 
Romantic  drama,  after  having  made  a  great  stir,  but  having  accom- 
plished comparatively  little, — returns  with  the  Burgraves  to  the 
epopee ; — and  with  Mademoiselle  de  Belle  Isle  or  Les  demoiselles 
de  Saint-  Cyr  to  the  drama  as  understood  by  Scribe ;  —  without 
having  conquered  for  the  dramatic  author  anything  more  than  a 
very  vague  general  liberty ; — the  applications  of  which  only  become 
clear  when  contrasted  with  the  obligations  imposed  by  Classicism. 
— The  Romantic  drama  is  a  Classic  tragedy ; — in  which  the  author 
has  the  right  to  violate  the  three  unities  ; — the  personages  of  which 
may  be  mere  private  individuals  ; — and  in  which  the  "grotesque"  is 
constantly  alternating  with  the  "  sublime." 


MODERN    TIMES  441 

as  the  most  inferior  member  of  the  body  to  which  he 
belongs.  It  thus  happens  that  those  who  vaunt  them- 
selves, raising  themselves  above  their  fellows,  whom 
they  regard  as  inferior  members  of  society,  necessarily 
render  themselves  odious  to  the  entire  community."  The 
Romanticists  were  assuredly  unacquainted  with  these 
words  of  the  modest  and  timid  Malebrariche,  but  had  it 
been  otherwise  they  would  have  had  little  weight  with 
them.  They  were  mistaken,  however,  in  neglecting  this 
admonition,  for  what  it  is  possible  to  put  up  with  from 
the  author  of  the  Meditations  or  of  the  Nuits,  becomes 
insupportable  after  a  while  even  from  a  Sainte-Beuve, — 
it  is  of  the  poet  I  speak, — or  a  Desbordes-Valmore.  We 
esteem  it  impertinence  on  their  part  to  trouble  us  with 

3.  THE  WORKS. — (1)  Alfred  de  Vigny  :  Le  More  de  Venise,  1829  ; 
— La,  Marechale  d'Ancre,  1831  ; — Chatterton,  1835. 

(2)  Victor    Hugo:    Cromwell,    1827; — Hernani,    1829; — Marion 
Delorme,   1830  ; — Le  roi  a1  amuse,  1832  ; — Lucrece  Borgia,  1833  ; — 
Marie  Tudor,   1833 ;— Angela,  1835  ;— Buy  Bias,  1838;— Les  Bur- 
graves,  1843. 

(3)  Alexandre  Dumas  :    Henri  III.  et  sa  cour,  1829  ; — Christine  a 
Fontainebleau,  1830  ; — Napoleon  Bonaparte,  1831 ; — Antony,  1831  ; 
— Charles  VII.  cliez  ses  grands  vassaux,  1831 ; — Richard  Darlington, 
ia31 ;—  Teresa,  1832;— La  Tour  de  Nesle,  1832-,—Angele,   1833;— 
Catherine  Howard,   1834 ; — Don  Juan   de  Marana,   1836 ; — Kean, 
1836 ;— Caligula,  1837 ;— Paul  Jones,  1838 ;— Mademoiselle  de  Belle- 
Isle,  1839; — the  Alchimiste,  1839; — Un  manage   sous  Louis  XV., 
1841  ;—Lorenzino,  1842. 

XIV.— Alfred  de  Musset  [Paris,  1810;  f  1857,  Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  contemporains,  vol.  ii., 
1833,  1836,  1840;  and  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  i.,  1850,  and  vol.  xiii., 
1857  ; — Alfred  de  Musset' s  Nuits ;  and  his  Confession  d'un  enfant  du 
siecle,  1835  ; — George  Sand,  Elle  et  lui,  Paris,  1859 ; — Paul  de  Musset, 
Lui  et  Elle,  Paris,  1860 ;  and  Biographic  d' Alfred  de  Musset,  Paris, 
1877 ; — Mme  O.  Jaubert  [nee  d' Alton  Shee] ,  Souvenirs,  Paris,  1881 ; 
— Emile  Montegut,  Nos  morts  contemporains,  Paris,  1884 ; — Ernile 
Faguet,  Dix-neuvieme  siecle,  Paris,  1887 ; — Jules  Lemaitre,  Intro- 


442    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUBE 

their  personal  concerns — as  if  we  had  none  of  our  own ! 
— and  as  they  lack  as  a  rule  the  gift  of  expression,  we  are 
irritated  by  their  airs  of  superiority.  They  are  well  aware 
that  this  is  the  impression  they  create,  and  with  a  view 
to  being  able  to  pretend,  on  the  strength  of  their  origi- 
nality, to  a  right  to  bore  us  with  their  affairs,  they 
compose  themselves,  they  laboriously  attempt  to  compose 
themselves  an  originality,  and  in  doing  so  quickly  land 
themselves  in  the  fantastic  and  the  monstrous.  They 
then  claim  for  the  maladies  they  have  given  themselves 
the  indulgence  and  attention  they  despaired  of  obtaining 
by  other  means,  and  literature  becomes  pathological  as 
a  consequence  of  this  self-exhibition.  At  this  juncture, 
however,  good  sense  revolts,  common  sense  resumes  its 

duction  au  theatre  d'Alfred  de  Musset,  Jouaust's  edition,  Paris, 
1889-1891  ; — Arvede  Barine,  Alfred  de  Musset,  in  the  "  Grands 
Ecrivains  frangais "  series,  Paris,  1893; — F.  Brunetiere,  Evolution 
de  la  poesie  lyrique,  1895 ; — Lettres  d'Alfred  de  Musset  et  de  George 
Sand,  edited  by  M.  S.  Rocheblave,  Paris,  1897. 

2.  THE  POET. — His  middle-class  extraction  and  his  aristocratic 
pretensions ; — his  Voltairian  education  [Cf .  what  he  says  himself  in 
the  Confession,  as  to  his  early  reading] ; — and  the  primary  trait  of 
his  character,  which  is  impatience  or  eagerness  for  pleasure. — His 
early  poems ; — and  that  they  would  be  spoiled  by  a  perpetual  affecta- 
tion of  "  dandyism  "  [Cf.  M.ardoche\ ; — and  of  elegant  debauchery, 
of  the  stamp  of  that  of  Laclos  and  the  younger  Crebillon  [Cf. 
Namouna] ; — and  as  well  by  a  phraseology  which  is  still  reminis- 
cent of  the  eighteenth  century ; — if  it  were  not  for  the  beauty  they 
derive  from  the  "pride  of  life"  with  which  they  are  instinct; — and 
from  the  ardent  and  objectless  [Cf.  La  Coupe  et  les  levres]  passion 
they  breathe. — Effect  they  produce  among  the  "  Romantic  clique  "  ; — 
the  premature  reputation  they  procure  their  author ; — and  that  never 
has  a  more  precocious  celebrity  been  purchased  more  dearly  by  a 
man  more  disposed  to  drain  its  intoxication  to  the  dregs. 

The  "poet  of  love"; — and  that  it  is  as  the  "poet  of  love"  that 
Musset  must  always  be  thought  of ; — since  although  exception  may 
and  indeed  must  be  taken  to  his  style  and  versification ; — more  beau- 
tiful, more  sincere,  more  impassioned,  and  more  poignant  love  poems  ; 


MODERN   TIMES  443 

rights,  and  the  sentiment  of  the  social  function  of  litera- 
ture and  art  is  reawakened.  The  public  ventures  at  last 
to  call  in  question  the  "  sovereignty  "  to  which  the  poet 
pretended.  It  is  simultaneously  perceived  that  the  essen- 
tial defect  of  Romanticism  consists  in  this  invasion  by 
lyricism  of  all  the  branches  of  literature ;  and  if  further 
proof  were  wanted  that  Romanticism  is  at  bottom  lyri- 
cism, it  would  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  attempts  that 
are  beginning  to  be  made  to  impose  restrictions  on  the 
one  result  in  the  other  losing  ground. 

The  sensational  failure  of  the  Bur  graves  in  1843, 
contrasted  with  the  not  less  sensational  though  certainly 
less  merited  success  of  Ponsard's  Lucrece  in  the  same 
year,  deals  romantic  drama  a  blow  from  which  it  did 

— than  the  Lettre  a  Lamartine  or  the  Nuit  d'octobre ; — do  not  exist 
in  French. — Moreover,  and  with  the  exception  of  his  Lorenzaccio ; — 
which  represents  his  contribution  to  the  Romantic  controversy  ; — his 
plays  constitute  one  long  hymn  to  love  [Cf .  Les  caprices  de  Marianne  ', 
the  Chandelier ;  On  ne  badine pas  avec  V amour ;  II  ne  faut  jurer  de 
rien ;  Fantasio,  etc.] ; — and  to  love  conceived  as  the  sole  reason  for 
existence  ; — and  for  continuing  to  live. — Herein  lies  the  secret  of  his 
dramatic  strength ; — and  of  the  often  unhealthy  or  questionable,  but 
always  infinitely  seductive  poetry  that  envelops  his  plays,  as  it  were, 
in  an  atmosphere  that  is  unique ; — and  herein  lies  in  consequence  the 
secret  of  the  vitality  of  his  work. — It  may  be,  too,  that  the  same 
qualities ; — together  with  the  information  the  work  contains  with 
regard  to  the  "  pathology  of  love  "  ; — save  his  Confession  from  what 
would  otherwise  be  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  declamation  by  which 
it  is  marred  ; — and  finally  that  this  worship  of  love  constitutes  almost 
the  sole  merit  of  his  Contes  and  Nouvelles. 

Remarks  on  this  subject ; — and  that  after  all  it  was  a  happy  thing 
for  Musset  that  he  was  a  victim  of  love ; — if  the  result  of  his  getting 
over  his  great  crisis  (1832-1837) ; — was  to  restore  him  to  his  former 
self ; — and  to  make  of  him  once  more  the  "  dandy  "  ; — or,  as  Flaubert 
put  it,  the  bourgeois, — he  was  at  the  outset  of  his  career. — That  the 
"  bourgeois  "  side  of  Musset's  work  is  not,  however,  without  its 
merit ; — to  appreciate  which  it  is  sufficient  to  term  "  Parisian  "  what 
Flaubert  styled  "  bourgeois  "  ; — and  thus  to  make  the  author  of  Une 


444    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

not  recover.  But  Frar^ois  Ponsard  is  unequal  to  the 
task  of  playing  the  part  with  which  he  has  been  invested 
almost  in  spite  of  himself,  and  in  reality  it  is  Eugene 
Scribe  and  Alexandre  Dumas,  though  they  have  far  less 
"literary"  pretensions  than  the  author  of  Lucrece,  who 
bring  back  the  drama  to  an  understanding  of  its  true 
conditions.  The  two  playwrights  must  be  taken  together 
and  reconciled  in  death,  for  if  both  of  them  write  badly, 
almost  as  badly  indeed  as  anybody  has  ever  written  in 
French,  at  any  rate  it  cannot  be  said  that  either  of 
them  writes  worse  than  the  other.  In  any  case  they 
thoroughly  comprehended  that  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred 
spectators  of  all  ages  and  ranks  do  not  shut  themselves 
up  for  four  or  five  hours  in  a  closed  building  to  listen  to 

bonne  fortune  and  of  Apres  une  lecture ; — a  lineal  descendant  of 
Voltaire,  Regnard,  Boileau,  and  La  Fontaine. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Musset's  works,  which  are  excellent^1  classified 
in  the  complete  edition  of  them  in  10  vols.,  Charpentier,  1865,  1866, 
1867,  1876,  1886,  comprise  :  (1)  his  Poems  ;— (2)  his  Plays ;— (3)  the 
Confession  d'un  enfant  du  siecle ; — (4)  his  Conies  and  Nouvelles ; — 
(5)  his  miscellaneous  writings,  and — (6)  his  posthumous  works  [Cf. 
Vte  de  Spoelberch,  Etude  critique  et  bibliographique  sur  les  (Euvres 
d' Alfred  de  Musset,  Paris,  1867  ;  and  Derome,  Les  editions  originales 
des  romantiques,  vol.  ii.,  Paris,  1887]  . 

XV.— Prosper  Merim.ee  [Paris,  1803  ;    j  1870,  Cannes] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  contemporains,  vol.  iii., 
1841 ;   Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  vii.,  1853  ; — Taiiie,  Prosper  Merimee, 
1873  ; — Merimee  himself,  Lettres  a  une  Inconnue,  1873  ;  and  Lettres 
a  Panizzi,  1881 ; — 0.  d'Haussonville,  Prosper  Merimee  in  the  Revue 
des  Deux  Mondcs,  April,  1879 ; — Maurice  Tourneux,  Prosper  Merimee, 
sa  bibliographic,  Paris,  1876  ;  and  Prosper  Merimee,  ses  portraits,  etc., 
Paris,  1879  ;— Emile  Faguet,  XIXC  siecle,  1887  ;— Aug.  Filon,  Merimee, 
Paris,  1893  ; — Merimee,  Une  correspondance  inedite,  1896. 

2.  THE  ROLE  OF  MKRIMKE  ; — and  that  it  seems  to  have  been  that  of 
an   ironist ; — who  pretended  to  believe  in  Romanticism,- — merely  in 
order  to  become  better  acquainted  with  it ; — to  be  able  the  better  to 
ridicule  it ;— arid   finally  to  bring  it  into  discredit. — Mdrimee's   first 


MODERN    TIMES  445 

an  author  talk  to  them  of  himself.  In  consequence,  if 
they  do  not  return  to  the  ways  of  the  classic  drama — 
though  it  may  be  that  what  is  best  in  Scribe  is  due  to 
Beaumarchais — they  tend  in  that  direction,  and  their 
works,  Mademoiselle  de  Belle-Isle  (1839)  and  the  Demoi- 
selles de  Saint-Cyr  (1843),  for  example,  or  the  Bataille 
de  Dames  and  the  Verre  d'eau,  are  works  of  an  undecided 
character  that  do  not  differ  to  a  great  extent  either  from 
each  other  or  from  the  works  of  the  past.  They  are 
doubtless  lacking  in  observation  and  psychology,  and 
also,  I  repeat,  in  style,  but  if  only  in  consequence  of 
the  historical  pretensions  of  which  they  make  a  show, 
some  slight  measure  of  reality  is  reintroduced  into  the 
drama,  which  seeks,  as  it  were,  in  their  writings  to 

works :  the  Theatre  de  Clara  Gazul,  1825, — and  La  Guzla,  1827  ; — 
and  that  if  they  are  the  work  of  a  Eomanticist  as  regards  their 
"  colour," — as  regards  their  initial  idea  they  are  that  of  a  man  of 
wide  curiosity  or  of  a  dilettante  ; — the  work,  in  fact,  less  of  a  disciple 
of  Chateaubriand, — than  of  a  pupil  of  Fauriel  and  of  a  friend  of 
Stendhal. — The  Chronique  du  regne  de  Charles  IX.,  1829 ;— the 
Vase  etrusque,  1830 ; — the  Double  meprise,  1833  ; — and  that  already 
in  these  last  two  works  the  author  has  almost  discarded  his  Roman- 
ticism.— Those  which  followed :  Les  Ames  du  Purgatoire,  1834, — and 
the  Venus  d'llle,  1837,  might  seem  to  be  a  return  to  the  Romantic 
formula ; — but  the  tendency  is  only  apparent ;  — as  is  proved  by 
Colomba,  1840 ; — Arsene  Guillot,  1844  ; — Carmen,  1845  ; — in  which 
only  two  of  the  characteristics  of  Romanticism  are  met  with :  a 
striving  after  "local  colour"  ; — and  the  glorification  of  energy  ; — but 
scarcely  any  intention  of  self-exhibition. — These  works  are  also  free 
from  declamation  ; — and  the  art  in  them  consists,  on  the  contrary,  in 
the  subjecting  what  is  rare  or  singular  to  the  ordinary  conditions  of 
reality. — This  attitude  would  have  sufficed, — even  if  it  had  not  been 
accompanied  by  a  taste  for  archaeology  and  erudition, — to  turn 
Merimee's  attention  to  history ; — and  it  was  as  an  historian  that  he 
ended ; — though  somewhat  obscurely ; — while  the  close  of  his  career 
also  found  him  ridiculing  that  "  realism  "  of  which  he  was  one  of  the 
founders; — just  as  he  had  formerly  ridiculed  "Romanticism"; — 
although  fighting  in  its  ranks. 


446    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

return  to  its  natural  laws.  The  fact  has  been  realised 
that  the  drama  cannot  exist  in  the  absence  of  a  subject 
of  really  general  interest,  and  in  particular  of  a  certain 
"  self-alienation,"  which,  forbidding  the  poet  to  be  pre- 
occupied by  his  own  individuality,  leads  him  to  embody 
himself  in  his  personages.  It  is  recognised,  it  is  confessed 
that  in  the  drama  the  individuality  of  the  author  must  be 
subordinate  to  something  outside  itself ;  and  this  is  tanta- 
mount to  saying  that  the  drama  is  unable  to  turn  its 
methods  to  account  so  long  as  it  continues  to  be 
Romantic. 

But  the  evolution  of  the  novel  is  about  to  further 
the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  drama.  It 
is  at  this  juncture — towards  1840 — that  the  author  of 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Merimee's  works  comprise :  (1)  the  Theatre  de 
Clara  Gazul,  1825,  and  La  Guzla,  1827 ; — (2)  his  Nouvelles,  the 
principal  of  which  have  been  mentioned  ; — (3)  his  historical  writings, 
of  which  the  principal  are :  his  Essai  sur  la  guerre  sociale,  1841  ; — 
Don  Pedro  de  Castille,  1848;  and  the  Faux  Demetrius,  1852;— 
(4)  his  archaeological  writings,  the  principal  being  his  Description  des 
veintures  de  Saint  -  Savin,  1845  ; — (5)  his  translations  from  the 
Russian :  Pouchkine's  La  dame  de  pique ;  Gogol's  Inspecteur 
general ;  Tourgueiiieff  s  Apparitions  ; — (6)  four  volumes  of  travels : 
Dans  le  Midi  de  la  France ;  Dans  Vouest ;  En  Auvergne ;  and  En 
Corse ;  and  numerous  magazine  articles,  all  of  which  have  not  been 
reprinted  in  volume  form; — (7)  his  Correspondence  composed  so  far 
of  Lettres  a  une  inconnue,  2  vols.,  1873 ;  Lettres  a  une  autre  in- 
connue,  1  vol.,  1875;  Lettres  a  Panizzi,  2  vols.,  1881;  and  Une 
correspondance  inedite  de  P.  Merimee,  1  vol.,  1896.  This  Corre- 
spondence does  not  constitute  the  least  interesting  portion  of  his  work, 
and  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  it  might  easily  be  doubled  in 
volume. 

XVI.  Alexis-Charles-Henri  Clerel  de  Tocqueville  [Paris, 

1805  ;  f  1859,  Cannes] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — His  Correspondance  inedite,  Paris,  1861 ;  and 
his  Nouvelle  correspondance  inedite,  Paris,  1865  ; — G.  de  Beaumont, 


MODERN   TIMES  447 

Indiana,  of  Valentine,  of  Lelia,  after  having  "sown  her 
wild  oats,"  so  to  speak,  after  occupying  attention  with 
the  story  of  her  marriage  and  the  scandal  of  her  love 
affairs,  that  George  Sand  herself  begins  to  see  that 
objective,  impersonal  and  disinterested  observation,  which 
is  the  very  definition  of  the  novel,  also  constitutes  its 
value.  With  the  facility  for  going  to  extremes  charac- 
teristic of  women,  and  with  their  tendency  to  obey  the 
masculine  influences  that  sway  them  for  the  time  being, 
George  Sand,  guided  at  first  by  Lamennais  and  afterwards 
by  Pierre  Leroux,  passes  at  a  bound  from  the  subjective 
or  lyric  to  the  social  and  even  the  Socialist  novel :  with 
the  result  that  the  Peche  de  M.  Antoine  or  the  Com- 
pagnon  du  Tour  de  France,  if  they  be  novels  at  all,  are 

Notice  sur  Alexis  de  Tocqueville,  preceding  the  latter's  CEuvres  et 
correspondance  inedites,  1861,  Paris ; — L.  de  Lomenie,  Esquisses 
historiques  et  litteraires,  Paris,  1859 ; — Sainte  -  Beuve,  Premiers 
limdis,  vol.  ii.,  1856 ;  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  xv.,  1860,  1861 ;  and 
Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  x.,  1865  ; — Smile  Faguet,  Alexis  de  Tocqueville 
in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  February,  1894 ; — G.  d'Eichthal, 
Alexis  de  Tocqueville,  Paris,  1897. 

2.  THE  HISTORIAN. — Originality  of  his  manner  ; — which  differs  no 
less  from  that  of  Guizot,  with  which  it  has  often  been  compared ; — 
than  from  that  of  Thiers  or  that  of  Augustin  Thierry. — La  Demo- 
cratic en  Amerique,  1835-1840 ; — and  that  Americans  admit  that 
nothing  that  has  been  written  about  them  shows  more  conscientious 
observation ; — or  remains  truer  on  the  whole  after  a  lapse  of  sixty 
years. — The  reason  is  that  the  author  combines  the  serene  im- 
personality of  the  philosopher  with  the  perspicacity  of  the  born 
observer; — the  disinterestedness  of  the  man  of  learning  with  the 
curiosity  of  the  politician  ; — and  the  art  of  formulating  the  laws  of 
phenomena  with  that  of  grasping  their  essential  character. — The  Ancien 
Regime  et  la  Revolution,  1856  ; — and  that  this  book  marks  an  epoch 
in  the  manner  of  conceiving  the  causes  and  of  representing  the  history 
of  the  Revolution. — Tocqueville  saw  clearly :  (1)  that  the  work  ac- 
complished by  the  Revolution  was  the  necessary  sequel  of  the 
most  remote  French  history; — (2)  that  the  Revolution  owed  its 
"religious"  character  to  the  depth  of  its  causes; — and  (3)  that 


448    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

assuredly  not  good  novels.  Are  those  of  Alexandre 
Dumas,  Frederic  Soulie,  and  Eugene  Sue  any  better  ? 
Their  vulgarity  admitted,  they  are  at  least  better  com- 
posed, more  interesting  and  more  dramatic  ;  while 
Eugene  Sue's  works,  to  an  equal  or  greater  degree  than 
George  Sand's,  help  by  diverting  attention  from  the 
miseries  the  Romanticists  had  brought  into  such  strong 
relief,  to  direct  it  to  other  sufferings  which  are  more  real, 
deeper,  and  more  cruel.  Mention,  too,  may  be  made 
here  of  the  names  of  Merimee,  Jules  Sandeau,  and 
Charles  de  Bernard.  But  it  was  reserved  for  Honore 
de  Balzac  to  rid  the  novel,  by  recourse  to  methods 
that  are  a  further  innovation,  of  the  conventions  of 
Romanticism,  and  to  raise  it  in  his  masterpieces  to  a 

for  this  reason  it  was  beyond  the  power  of  any  political  force  to 
nullify  its  effects. — By  these  two  works  Tocqueville  contributed 
more  than  anybody  else, — to  make  history  independent  of  the 
arbitrary  judgment  of  historians  ; — to  pave  the  way  for  the  conception 
of  history  that  now  obtains, — and  to  give  history  all  the  charac- 
teristics of  a  science  it  is  susceptible  of  acquiring. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — As  we  have  neglected  the  politician  in  this  article 
and  merely  considered  the  historian,  we  shall  not  refer  to  de 
Tocqueville 's  political  writings :  to  his  Rapports,  Discours  or 
Souvenirs  [published  in  1893] . — His  Democratic  appeared  in  1835- 
1840  ; — -his  Ancien  Regime  et  la  Revolution  in  1856. — His  other 
historical  writings  consist  of  fragments,  all  of  which  bear  on  one  or 
the  other  of  these  two  works.  His  Correspondence,  which  is  very 
interesting,  has  been  published  by  Gustave  de  Beaumont,  who 
accompanied  him  on  his  journey  to  the  United  States. 

Mine  de  Tocqueville  has  edited  his  complete  works  in  9  vols.,  Paris, 
1864-1868.  The  two  volumes  edited  by  M.  G.  de  Beaumont  form  the 
fifth  and  sixth  volumes  of  this  edition. 


MODERN    TIMES  449 

perfection  which  perhaps  has  never  since  been  surpassed 
— or  equalled. 

Doubtless  there  had  been  novels,  and  good  novels, 
before  the  time  of  Balzac,  and  among  them  two  or  three 
— the  Princesse  de  Cleves,  Gil  Bias,  Nation  Lescaut— 
which  will  last,  it  may  be  believed,  as  long  as  the  French 
language.  These  productions,  however,  were  merely 
happy  "  accidents,"  chance  "  finds,"  which  were  not  of 
a  nature  to  be  repeated  or  to  prove  the  parent  stock 
of  works  of  a  like  order.  None  of  Balzac's  predecessors 
had  divined  that  the  true  role  or  the  true  literary  function 
of  the  novel  is  to  be  the  abridged  representation  of 
ordinary  life.  The  novelist  in  reality  is  nothing  more 
than  a  witness  whose  evidence  should  rival  that  of  the 

SECOND  PERIOD. 

From  the  performance  of  the  "  Burgraves  "  to  the  publica- 
tion of  the  "  Legende  des  siecles." 

1843-1859 

I.— Honore  de  Balzac  [Tours,  1799  ;  f  1850,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES.' — Balzac's  Correspondence  j  1818-1850] ,  forming 
vol.  xxiv.  of  his  complete  works,  Paris,  1876 ;  and  his  Lettres  a 
I'etrangere  [Mme  Hanska,  afterwards  Mine  de  Balzac]  in  the  Revue 
de  Paris,  1894,  1895,  1896. 

Sainte  -  Beuve,  Portraits  contemporains,  vol.  ii.,  1836  ;  and 
Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  ii.,  1850 ; — P.  de  Molene's  articles  in  the 
Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  March,  April,  November,  1842,  and  June 
1843 ; — Lerminier,  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  April,  1847 ; — 
Mme  de  Surville  [Balzac's  sister] ,  Balzac,  sa  vie  et  ses  oeuvres,  Paris, 
1858,  and  preceding  the  volume  containing  his  Correspondence. 

Eugene  Poitou,  M.  de  Balzac,  ses  oeuvres  et  son  influence,  in  the 
Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  December,  1856  ; — Taine,  Nouveaux  essais 
de  critique  et  d'histoire  (the  date  of  the  article  is  1858) ; — Th.  Gautier, 
Honore  de  Balzac,  Paris,  1859  ; — Edmond  Werdet,  Portrait  intime  de 

1  Cf.  Histoire  des  (Euvres  de  Balzac  by  the  Vicomte  Spcelberch  de  Lovenjoul, 
3rd  edition,  Paris,  1888,  Calmann  L6vy. 

30 


450    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

historian  in  precision  and  trustworthiness.  We  look 
to  him  to  teach  us  literally  to  see.  We  read  his  novels 
merely  with  a  view  to  finding  in  them  those  aspects  of 
existence  which  escape  us  owing  to  the  very  hurry  and 
stir  of  life,  an  attitude  we  express  by  saying,  that  for  a 
novel  to  be  recognised  as  such,  it  must  offer  an  his- 
torical or  documentary  value,  a  value  precise  and  de- 
termined, particular  and  local,  and  as  well  a  general  and 
lasting  psychological  value  or  significance. 

Both  these  conditions  are  fulfilled  by  Balzac's  novels. 
Les  Chouans,  although  one  of  his  earliest  works,  but 
more  especially  Une  tenebreuse  affaire,  Un  menage  de 
garqon,  Cesar  Birotteau,  La  Cousine  Bette  are  among 
the  most  lifelike  pictures  that  exist  of  the  revolutionary 

Balzac,  Paris,  1859; — Champfleury,  Grandes  fig ures  d'Jiier  et  d'au- 
jourd'hui,  Paris,  1861 ; — Lamartine,-Ba.foac,  in  his  Cours  de  litter ature, 
1864,  and  in  volume  form,  Paris,  1866  ; — Emile  Zola,  Le  roman  ex- 
perimental, 1880 ;  and  Les  romanciers  naturalistes,  1881 ; — -Emile 
Faguet,  Dix-Neuvieme  siecle,  1887 ; — Marcel  Barriere,  I'OSuvre 
d'Honore  de  Balzac,  Paris,  1890 ; — Julien  Lemer,  Balzac,  sa  vie  et 
son  ceuvre,  Paris,  1891 ; — Paul  Flat,  Essais  sur  Balzac,  1893  ;  and 
Nouveaitx  essais,  Paris,  1895 ; — Edrnond  Eire,  H.  de  Balzac,  Paris, 
1897. 

Anatole  Cerfbeer  and  Jules  Christophe,  Repertoire  de  la  Comedie 
humaine,  Paris,  1887. 

2.  THE  NOVELIST. 

A.  His  early  years  and  career. — His  extraction ; — and  that  he  has 
many  of  the  characteristics  of  the  inhabitants  of  Touraine,  and  yet 
his  mother  was  a  Parisian  and  his  father  came  from  the  Languedoc 
country. — His  education  at  the  college  of  Vendome  [Cf.  Louis 
Lambert] . — The  years  he  passed  in  the  offices  of  a  lawyer  and  of  a 
notary ; — and  the  account  to  which  he  turned  them  ;• — learning  not 
only  the  "  procedure  "  which  was  to  occupy  so  large  a  place  in  certain 
of  his  novels; — but  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  "business  "  as  well; — 
and  of  the  part  it  plays  in  contemporary  life. — His  tragedy  Cromwell, 
1820  [unprinted], — and  his  first  novels  [under  the  pseudonym  of  Horace 
de  Saint- Aubin] , — and  that  it  is  useless  to  give  their  titles,  as  he 
disowned  them. — His  commercial  undertakings  ;  publishing,  printing, 


MODERN   TIMES  451 

period,  the  Empire,  the  Eestoration,  and  the  Government 
of  July.  But  his  studies  of  character  are  equally  admir- 
able, as  is  seen  when  he  is  depicting  inveterate  vice  in 
Baron  Hulot,  or  middle-class  vanity  in  Cesar  Birotteau, 
or  military  haughtiness  and  brutality  in  Philippe  Bridau, 
or  the  obsequiousness  of  the  functionary  in  Marin  de 
Gondreville.  Be  it  added  that  love, — I  say  love  and  not 
women, — does  not  occupy  a  larger  place  in  his  books 
than  is  actually  accorded  to  it  in  real  life,  while  he  gives 
hatred,  vanity,  ambition,  avarice  and  all  the  passions 
their  due  importance.  It  would  be  difficult,  again,  to 
praise  too  highly  his  astonishingly  exact  and  minute 
descriptions,  or  rather  inventories,  his  "  resuscitations  " 
of  periods  and  places,  even  his  vivid  sketches  of  fashions 

type-founding ; — and  that  it  is  curious  to  note  that  his  efforts  to 
make  money  always  took  the  shape  of  some  enterprise  connected  with 
the  book  trade. — Moreover,  if  he  was  unsuccessful  botfh  as  a  printer 
and  type-founder, —the  further  experience  he  thus  gained, — coming 
on  the  top  of  that  he  had  acquired  in  the  lawyer's  and  notary's  offices, 
— contributed  in  no  small  measure  to  the  composition  of  his  talent. — 
The  Chouans,  1827-1829 ;— the  Physiologic  du  mariage,  1829-1830 ; 
— the  Maison  du  chat  qui  peloie,  the  Bal  de  Sceaux,  the  Vendetta, 
1830. — His  feverish  activity  and  his  inordinate  production  [Cf.  Ch.  de 
Lovenjoul,  Histoire  des  (Euvres,  3rd  edit.,  pp.  315-328] . — Peau  de 
chagrin,  1831  ; — the  Muse  du  departement  ; — the  Cure  de  Tours, 
Louis  Lambert,  1832  ;— the  Medecin  de  campagne ;  Eugenie  Grandet, 
1833. — The  idea  of  the  "  Human  Comedy  "  first  occurs  to  him  ; — and 
he  draws  up  its  principal  divisions. — The  Recherche  de  Vabsolu,  1834  ; 
— Sainte-Beuve's  article  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  [Cf.  below]  ; 
— and  Balzac's  quarrel  with  Sainte-Beuve. — His  financial  embarrass- 
ment and  lawsuits. — He  frequents  aristocratic  society. — Pere  Goriot, 
1835  ; — the  Contrat  de  mariage,  1835  ; — the  Lys  dans  la  vallee, 
1835 ; — Fresh  lawsuits  and  fresh  schemes.  La  vieille  fille,  1886  ; 
— Illusions  perdues,  part  i.,  1837  ; — Les  employes,  1837  ; — Cesar 
Birotteau,  1837. — The  incident  of  the  Sardinian  mines  [Cf.  his 
Correspondence  for  March  and  June,  1838] . — He  takes  up  his 
residence  at  the  Jardies. — The  Cure  de  Village,  1839  ; — his  drama 
Vautrin  is  performed  and  then  prohibited,  1840. — Foundation  of 


452    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

which,  although  they  lasted  but  a  year  or  only  a  few 
months,  have  been  immortalised  by  the  master's  laborious 
but  powerful  art.  Whether  better  novels  have  ever  been 
written,  or  will  ever  be  written,  than  Eugenie  Grandet, 
Ursule  Mirouet,  Le  Cure  de  Village  or  Le  Cousin  Pons,  I 
cannot  say,  but  there  are  no  novels  like  them  in  existence. 
But  it  is  time  to  employ  the  only  word  that  meets  the 
case,  while  its  application  to  Balzac  will  determine  its  true 
meaning,  and  prevent  it  from  being  falsely  interpreted  as 
has  too  often  been  done.  Balzac's  attitude  towards 
his  characters  or  the  subject  he  is  writing  about,  is  that 
of  the  naturalist  towards  the  animal  or  the  plant  he  is 
studying.  It  is  a  patient  and  attentive  attitude,  an 
attitude  "subservient  to  its  object,"  and  uninfluenced 

the  Revue  parisienne. — Pierrette,  1840  ; — Une  tenebreuse  affaire, 
1841 ; — La  Babouilleuse  [Un  menage  de  gargon] ,  1841  ; — Ursule 
Mirouet,  1841. — Performance  and  failure  of  his  piece  Les  ressources  de 
Qitinola,  1842. — The  Introduction  to  the  "  Human  Comedy  "  appears, 
1842. 

B.  Balzac's  art ; — and  to  begin  with,  whether  Balzac's  style  is  so 
bad  in  general  as  has  been  asserted ; — on  the  strength  of  some 
instances  of  exaggerated  or  incoherent  metaphors  ; — or  of  far-fetched 
expressions ; — and  of  the  frequent  use  or  abuse  of  the  slang  terms 
peculiar  to  the  various  professions  or  trades  ? — That  in  any  case, 
when  the  justice  of  these  criticisms  has  been  recognised  ; — and  when 
he  has  further  been  reproached  with  presenting  his  subjects  in  a 
manner  that  invites  the  charge  of  charlatanism  ; — owing  to  a  perpetual 
affectation  of  profoundness, — displaying  itself  in  high-sounding  but 
often  empty  pronouncements ;— it  is  still  impossible  not  to  accord  him 
an  unique  "  power  of  evocation  "  ; — and  the  gift,  as  he  said  himself,  of 
having  with  the  personages  of  his  Comedy  "  competed  with  the 
Eegistrar  of  births."— There  arises  in  this  connection  a  question  with 
which  we  have  already  been  confronted  [Cf .  the  article  on  Moliere]  : — 
can  it  be  that  this  manner  of  writing,  a  manner  as  irregular,  confused 
and  jumbled  as  life  itself,  is  a  necessary  condition  of  the  representa- 
tion of  life  ? — The  defects  of  Balzac's  style  are  of  the  same  nature, — 
having  regard  to  differences  of  education  and  period, — as  those  of  the 
style  of  Saint-Simon's  Memoirs ; — or  as  those  perhaps  of  Shake- 


MODEEN    TIMES  458 

by  any  preconceived  personal  notions.  He  does  not 
give  us  his  impressions ;  it  is  reality,  and  reality  in  its 
entirety  that  he  strives  to  grasp,  as  is  indicated  by  the 
spacious  lines  on  which  his  work  is  designed.  In  the 
"  Human  Comedy,"  glorying  as  much  in  forgetting 
himself  as  the  Romanticists  in  thrusting  themselves  on 
our  attention,  his  sole  ambition  was  to  reflect  the  history 
of  his  time  with  the  utmost  faithfulness  compatible  with 
the  methods  of  his  art. 

To  consummate  the  downfall  of  Romanticism,  it  was 
only  necessary  that  it  should  be  deserted  by  its  chiefs  or 
masters  themselves  ;  and  this  desertion  was  an  accom- 
plished fact.  To  say  nothing  of  Lamartine,  Victor  Hugo, 
who  had  thrown  himself  into  politics,  had  ceased  to  write 

speare's  style ; — a  circumstance  which  gives  one  pause  ; — but  there 
is  inducement  to  believe  that  it  is  for  this  reason  that  it  has  been 
possible  to  term  Balzac, — after  Saint-Simon  and  Shakespeare, — 
"the  greatest  repertory  of  documents  bearing  on  human  nature 
we  possess." — The  value  of  these  "  documents  "  has  now  to  be 
examined. 

1.  They  are  in  the  first  place  historical  documents; — and,  in  this 
connection,  of  Balzac's  admiration  for  Sir  Walter  Scott  [Cf.  Intro- 
duction to  the  Comedie  humaine  ;  and  the  letter  of  January  20,  1838, 
to  Mme  Hanska] . — The  novels  of  the  author  of  Quentin  Durward 
and  Ivanhoe  are  lifelike  resuscitations  of  the  past  [Cf.  Aug.  Thierry's 
article  on  Ivanhoe]  ; — and  Balzac's  novels  resemble  them  in  this 
respect. — No  historian  has  given  a  more  striking  picture  of  the  civil 
wars  of  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution  than  the  author  of  the 
Chouans  ; — the  France  of  the  First  Empire  is  nowhere  more  vividly 
depicted  than  in  Une  tenebreuse  affaire  [Cf.  Ernest  Daudet,  La 
Police  et  les  Chouans  sous  V Empire]  ; — if  the  soldiers  of  the  Restora- 
tion are  anywhere  conjured  up  before  us  it  is  in  Un  menage  de 
garcon  ; — and  to  see  the  middle  classes  of  the  time  of  Louis-Philippe 
live  again  before  our  eyes,  we  have  only  to  open  Cesar  Birotteau 
or  La  Cousins  Bette. — It  should  be  added  that  Balzac  has  recourse 
to  the  same  expedients  as  Sir  Walter  Scott : — schedules,  inventories, 
exact,  minute,  and  picturesque  descriptions  of  furniture  and  cos- 
tumes ; — "  localisation "  of  provincial  manners  and  of  the  various 


454    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

plays,  and  was  withholding  his  Contemplations  from  pub- 
lication. Vigny,  from  the  retirement  of  his  "  ivory 
tower,"  was  issuing  the  Mort  du  Loup,  the  Maison  du 
Berger,  the  Bouteille  a  la  mer,  works  of  which  it  may  be 
said, — whatever  further  characteristics  we  may  have  to 
point  out  in  them  later, — that  nothing  could  be  less 
Komantic.  Musset,  whose  error  throughout  had  been  his 
desire  to  conform  his  life  to  his  poetry,  was  wearing  him- 
self out  in  debauchery ;  the  enfant  terrible  of  the  party  had 
become  its  most  lamentable  victim !  Already,  and  without 
the  least  inquiry  as  to  whether  they  were  justified  or  not, 
the  jests,  dull  though  they  were,  which  the  author  of 
Jerome  Paturot  a  la  recherche  d'une  position  sociale  (1843) 
was  making  at  the  expense  of  the  Eomanticists  in  general 

phases  of  Parisian  life ; — "  genealogy,"  physiology,  and  detailed 
psychology  of  even  his  least  important  personages ; — connection,  by 
brief  indications,  of  their  private  history  with  the  general  history  of 
their  time  ; — and  generally  whatever  is  wanting  in  this  respect  in 
Volupte ; — in  Valentine  or  Indiana ; — in  Adolplie. — This  is  Balzac's 
primary  merit,  and  it  is  an  unique  merit. — He  was  the  "historian" 
as  well  as  the  "painter"  of  the  manners  of  his  time; — of  which  he 
has  noted  the  very  evolution  or  movement ;— as  well  as  caught  the 
physiognomy. — And  while  Walter  Scott,  to  give  us  the  sensation  of 
the  diversity  of  periods, — requires  to  be  separated  from  the  periods 
he  depicts  by  a  somewhat  long  interval, — Balzac  has  rendered  the 
distinctive  characteristics  of  the  three  or  four  generations  of  men  it  is 
possible  to  come  into  contact  with  in  the  course  of  a  single  life. 

2.  Balzac's  documents  in  consequence  are,  in  the  second  place, 
realistic  documents ; — for  he  has  accorded  a  place  in  the  novel  to 
details  which  his  predecessors  had  kept  out  of  it  as  being  vulgar  or  of 
little  interest ; — and  in  particular  to  all  such  details  as  relate  to 
money  questions  [Cf .  Eugenie  Grandet ;  Cesar  Birotteau;  Les  illu- 
sions perdues  ;  La  Cousine  Bette] . — He  may  be  said,  indeed,  to  have 
made  money  the  very  soul  of  his  plots  ; — instead  of  and  in  the  place 
of  love,  which  occupies  but  a  secondary  place  in  his  works  [Cf.  Le 
contrat  de  mariage ;  La  recherche  de  VAbsolu ;  Les  Paysans ;  Le 
Cousin  Pons] ; — and  sometimes  no  place  at  all. — Moreover,  as  he 
was  himself  familiar  with  every  description  of  financial  embarrass- 


MODERN   TIMES  455 

and  of  the  greatest  of  them  in  particular,  were  meeting 
with  unanimous  applause.  Moreover,  if  it  be  true  that  a 
form  of  literature  or  a  literary  doctrine  cannot  disappear 
unless  another  form  or  another  doctrine  has  taken  its 
place,  the  novel  has  just  been  seen  to  have  profited  in  the 
hands  of  Balzac  by  all  the  drama  was  losing,  and  realism 
to  have  been  the  gainer  by  the  drooping  fortunes  of 
Romanticism.  Something  more,  however,  was  wanted 
to  change  the  retreat  into  a  rout :  the  spectacle  was 
needed  of  Romantic  individualism  at  bay  with  its  exact 
opposite,  with  what  we  should  have  liked  to  have 
termed  socialism,  if  the  word  had  not  since  acquired, 
unfortunately,  so  many  dangerous  and  regrettable 
meanings ! 

ment ; — the  reality  of  his  personal  experience  is  superadded  to  the 
inevitable  touch  of  realism  lent  the  stage  play  or  the  novel  by  the 
introduction  of  money  questions  ; — and  he  is  the  novelist  of  the 
money  question, — as  Musset  is  the  poet  of  love. — He  was  alive  to 
the  exigencies  imposed  on  the  novel  by  the  mere  contention  of  deal- 
ing with  the  question  of  money  in  it.— Besides  understanding  the 
nature  of  the  activity,  intelligence,  and  acumen  requisite  for  financial 
success  ; — matters  which  Scribe,  on  the  contrary,  never  understood ; 
— he  recognised  that  he  would  have  to  introduce  an  entire  class  of 
men  previously  overlooked  by  novelists : — bankers,  notaries,  bailiffs, 
lawyers,  usurers,  and  petty  money-lenders  ; — that  is  an  entire  group 
of  characters  whose  depiction  or  representation  must  result  in 
realism ; — since  their  lives  hinge  exclusively  on  the  most  concrete, 
and,  in  our  modern  civilisations,  the  most  universal  of  realities. — 
After  the  money-makers,  however,  all  the  social  classes  made  their 
entry  into  the  novel ; — with  the  infinite  diversity  of  their  professions 
and  trades ; — which  it  became  necessary  to  distinguish  by  their 
genuine  characteristics ; — by  the  intellectual,  psychological,  or  moral 
deformation  which  result  from  them ; — soldiers  and  magistrates, 
artists  and  men  of  letters,  functionaries  and  shop  -  keepers, 
diplomatists  and  politicians,  doctors  and  persons  of  independent 
means ; — it  became  necessary  to  be  acquainted  with  these  occupa- 
tions, to  describe  and  explain  them ; — and  to  describe  them  to 
employ  the  terms  which  constitute  the  vocabulary  or  slang  of  those 


456    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY    OF    FRENCH    LITERATURE 


II 

While  the  Romanticists  were  engaged  in  introspection, 
were  probing  "  to  its  waste  bottom  the  gulf  within  them," 
and  finding  nothing  there,  were  unsuccessful  in  getting 
beyond  themselves,  were  always  harping  on  themselves 
and  on  themselves  alone,  there  was  coming  into  existence 
independently  of  them  an  immense  movement  in  which 
not  only  they  took  no  part,  but  of  the  very  existence 
of  which  they  were  ignorant  in  their  utter  inability  to 
discern  its  nature  or  gauge  its  significance.  Their 
self-preoccupation  blinded  them  to  the  progress  of 
science,  and  the  fact  must  be  insisted  on  that  never 

who  follow  them ; — as  there  are  not  two  ways  of  saying  that 
a  bill  has  been  dishonoured, — nor  is  there  a  literary  paraphrase  for 
designating  a  depilatory  ointment. — Finally  when  he  had  conceived 
the  idea  of  linking  all  his  novels  together ; — and  of  making  of  them 
not  a  succession  of  episodes,  one  of  which  should  be  the  continuation 
of  another  ; — but  a  picture  of  the  society  of  his  time ; — if  he  had  over- 
looked some  characteristic  trait  it  became  necessary  that  he  should 
note  the  omission  ; — and  then  it  was  that  he  clearly  perceived  the 
realistic  character  of  his  work ; — or,  as  it  might  also  be  called,  its 
scientific  character. 

3.  For,  in  the  third  place,  his  documents  are  assuredly  scientific 
documents  ; — and  it  is  no  affectation  on  his  part ; — when  he  invokes 
the  names  of  Geoffrey  Saint-Hilaire  or  Cuvier ; — but  the  expression 
of  his  gratitude ; — for  it  is  a  fact  that  he  contributed  to  a  greater 
extent  than  anybody  else  to  make  the  history  of  manners  a  depen- 
dency or  province  of  natural  history  [Cf.  the  Introduction  to  the 
Comedie  humaine] . — He  had  recourse,  as  naturalists  do,  to  mono- 
graphs [Cf.  Etude  de  femme  ;  Lafemme  de  trente  ans  ;  Autre  Etude 
de  femme  ;  I'  Usurier  Gobseck] ; — in  which  he  scarcely  concerned  him- 
self with  producing  literature  or  art ; — but  rather  with  depicting  his 
"  subject "  exactly  as  he  had  observed  it; — Nobody  has  given  so 
much  attention  as  he  to  the  reproduction  of  the  "  surroundings  " 
in  which  he  placed  his  characters  [Cf.  La  recherche  de  I'Absoln  ; 
Le  Pere  Goriot ;  Le  Cousin  Perns] ; — indeed,  carried  away  by  his 


MOPEBN    TIMES  457 

have  poets  existed,  not  forgetting  Racine  or  Boileau, 
more  wholly  oblivious  of  whatever  did  not  immediately 
concern  their  art — of  mechanics  or  astronomy,  of  physics 
or  chemistry,  of  natural  history  or  physiology,  of  his- 
tory and  philosophy — than  Lamartine,  Hugo,  Musset, 
Dumas,  Gautier,  and  their  fellows.  Shall  it  be  said  that 
they  had  a  right  to  adopt  this  attitude?  It  is  certain 
that,  just  as  "  there  is  no  need  for  a  quadrant  to  journey 
with  ease  from  Paris  to  Auvergne,"  so  the  utter  in- 
difference of  a  Musset  or  a  Hugo  to  whatever  did  not 
concern  their  loves  or  their  verses  does  not  in  the  least 
detract  from  the  beauty  of  the  Nuits  or  the  Orientales. 
They  must  even  be  admired  for  having,  as  Hugo  did  for 
example,  "described"  Greece  or  the  East  so  admirably 

subject,  he  has  more  than  once  gone  to  extremes  in  this  con- 
nection ; — and  treated  this  branch  of  his  work  for  its  own  sake. — 
His  great  ambition  was  to  describe  and  classify  "  social  species " ; 
— considered  as  analogous  to  "  zoological  species  " ; — and  capable, 
like  these  latter,  of  changing  the  one  into  the  other; — a  con- 
ception which,  as  has  been  quite  rightly  observed  [Cf.  Paul  Flat, 
Essais  sur  Balzac] , — is  that  of  Evolution. — For  this  reason  it  is  a 
mistake  to  talk  of  the  immorality  of  his  novels ; — for  they  are  not 
immoral  in  general,  and  with  the  exception  of  those  which  show 
traces  of  Romanticism  [Cf.  Un  grand  homme  de  province  a  Paris,  or 
La  derniere  incarnation  de  Vautriri\ , — except  in  the  way  in  which 
experience  of  life  itself  is  immoral. — All  that  can  be  said  is  that  his 
work  bearing  the  imprint  of  his  temperament ; — he  has  not  escaped 
the  danger  incident  to  all  realism ; — of  regarding  man  as  he  would 
an  animal ; — of  forgetting  that  man  is  man  only  so  far  as  he  avoids 
resembling  an  animal ; — and  that  a  social  function  attaches  to  art 
and  literature  ; — if  not  to  natural  history. 

By  recourse  to  the  methods  just  described,  Balzac  made  the  novel 
a  "  literary  genus  "  ; — blending  together  for  the  first  time  the  historic 
novel  [in  the  manner  of  Walter  Scott,  or  before  him  of  Prevost]  ; — 
the  novel  of  manners  [as  seen  in  the  works  of  the  younger  Crebillon, 
Fielding,  and  Marivaux]  ; — the  novel  of  character  [as  exemplified  by 
Le  Sage]  ; — and  the  social  or  philosophic  novel  [as  conceived  by 
George  Sand  or  Eousseau]. — His  success  in  combining  these  varieties 


458    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

without  ever  having  seen  them.  At  the  same  time,  in 
proportion  as  the  discoveries  in  every  direction  at  once  of 
a  Geoffroy  Saint-Hilaixe  or  a  Dumas — the  chemist — of  an 
Ampere  or  a  Fresnel,  of  a  Cauchy  or  a  Fourier,  gave  almost 
infinite  extension  to  the  field  of  "objective"  certitude,  it 
was  impossible  that  the  confidence  the  Romanticists  had 
placed  in  a  purely  "  subjective "  certitude  should  not 
be  lessened  to  a  corresponding  extent,  to  the  consequent 
undermining  of  the  authority  of  the  Individual.  Since 
reality  is  not  always  in  conformity  with  the  idea  we 
form  of  it,  since  this  is  a  demonstrable  fact,  since  indeed 
one  of  the  habitual  characteristics  of  scientific  truth  is 
that  it  is  in  contradiction  with  the  evidence  of  our  senses, 
it  follows  that  the  individual  is  not  the  "  measure  of  all 

of  the  novel  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he  discerned  the  ultimate  pur- 
pose of  all  of  them ; — which  is  to  realise  an  "  image  of  contemporary 
life  "  ;— in  which  the  individuals  and  the  spheres  in  which  they  move 
are  shown  in  their  reciprocal  reactions  on  one  another ; — and  on  this 
score  it  may  be  said  that  the  novel  as  conceived  by  Balzac  is  a 
creation  analogous  to  that  of  the  comedy  of  Moliere. — Balzac's  last 
novels  :  Modeste  Mignon,  1844  ;—Les  Paysans,  1845  ; — Le  Cousin 
Pons,  1846 ; — La  Cousine  Bette,  1847 ; — Le  Depute  d'Arcis  [un- 
finished] ,  1847  ; — and  that  three  at  least  of  them  are  among  the  best 
Balzac  wrote. 

C.  Balzac's  influence. — What  precedes  explains  how  it  is  that  his 
influence  has  been  so  far-reaching ; — and  the  truth  is  that  since  he 
first  came  to  the  front  some  sixty  years  ago, — no  novels  have  been 
written  in  France  or  elsewhere  that  do  not  seem  to  show  the  influence 
of  Balzac  ; — or  if  there  has  been  a  novel  or  a  type  of  novel  that  has 
escaped  his  influence,  it  has  suffered  on  that  account  and  on  that 
account  alone. — The  influence  of  the  Lys  dans  la  vallee  is  trace- 
able in  all  psychological  novels  ; — that  of  Eugenie  Grandet  or  of  La 
Cousine  Bette  in  all  novels  that  claim  to  be  studies  of  character ; — 
while  the  origin  of  the  "detective"  novel  is  to  be  found  in  La 
derniere  incarnation  de  Vautrin  or  in  Une  tenebreuse  affaire. — On 
the  other  hand,  since  Balzac,  the  novel  of  adventure  has  ceased 
to  belong  to  literature ; — and  the  sentimental  novel  has  come  to 
be  regarded  as  of  quite  an  inferior  order ; — the  first  because  of 


MODERN    TIMES  459 

things,"  that  the  sincerity  of  our  impressions  is  no 
guarantee  of  their  accuracy,  and  that  we  are  merely 
their  scene,  while  their  judge  is  outside  ourselves  and 
our  superior  ! 

Such  is  the  idea  that  is  beginning  to  filter  into  men's 
minds,  which  before  long  it  will  dominate  entirely.  In 
the  light  of  science,  the  reason  is  perceived  of  the  resist- 
ance that  had  been  offered  the  pretensions  of  Komanticism. 
The  poet  has  not  the  right  to  assert  that  "  he  has  his 
human  heart "  of  his  own,  or  at  least  we  have  the  right 
for  our  part  to  declare  that  he  is  mistaken  !  And  we  in 
turn,  on  what  shall  we  base  our  affirmation?  Clearly 
not  on  our  knowledge  of  ourselves,  as  to  do  so  would  be 
to  argue  in  a  vicious  circle,  but  on  observation  of  a  more 

the  arbitrariness  of  its  combinations  ; — the  second  because  it  is  always 
a  "  confession  "  on  the  part  of  the  novelist ; — while  both  have  fallen 
into  disrepute  because  they  are  mere  partial  or  illusory  representations 
of  life. — What  is  more,  an  entire  generation  of  men  that  learned  to 
read  in  Balzac's  novels, — learned,  as  it  were,  to  live  in  them ; — and  to 
borrow  the  expression  of  an  illustrious  naturalist  [Louis  Agassiz] , — 
his  personages  have  become  "prophetic  types"; — from  his  "  Gau- 
dissarts "  to  his  "  Rastignacs  "  and  his  "  Rubempres." — We  still 
elbow  them  in  real  life  ; — they  have  modelled  themselves  on  Balzac's 
heroes  ;• — and  it  thus  happens  that  he  "  has  competed  with  the 
Registrar  of  births  "  far  more  literally  than  he  believed  himself ; — 
which  is  doubtless  the  highest  praise  it  is  possible  to  give  the 
creative  artist. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Balzac's  works  consist  essentially  of  his  novels, 
which  he  has  himself  classified  as  follows : — 

Scenes  from  private  life  ; — Scenes  from  provincial  life ; — Scenes 
from  Parisian  life ; — Scenes  from  military  life  ; — Scenes  from  country 
lif e  ; — Scenes  from  political  life  ; — Philosophic  studies ; — and  Analy- 
tical studies.  Grouped  together,  these  sub-divisions  of  his  work  form 
his  Human  Comedy. 

Balzac's  works  further  include  the  following  plays  :  Vautrin,  1840  ; 
— Les  ressources  de  Quinola,  1842 ; — Pamela  Giraud,  1843  ; — La 
mardtre,  1848 ; — and  Le  Faiseur  or  Mercadet  [1838,  1840] ,  which, 
revised  by  M.  d'Ennery,  was  first  represented  in  1851 ; 


460    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

varied,  a  wider,  and  a  more  general  order,  on  observation 
uninfluenced,  as  far  as  possible,  by  whatever  is  "  per- 
sonal "  or  individual  in  us  :  and  by  a  coincidence  it  would 
be  somewhat  na'ive  to  regard  as  a  mere  effect  of  chance, 
it  happens  that  the  rules  of  this  observation  are  laid  down 
precisely  at  the  moment  when  the  need  is  felt  of  opposing 
them  to  the  systematic  licence  of  Eomanticism. 

The  rules  in  question  are  due  to  Auguste  Comte.  We 
shall  not  be  expected  to  summarise  here  his  Cours  de 
philosophic  positive  (1831-1842),  but  it  is  essential  to  note 
that  the  main  object  of  the  founder  of  Positivism  was  to 
combat  the  assertion  of  the  eclectic  school  to  the  effect 
that  the  Individual  is  judge  of  the  truth  or  error  con- 
tained in  philosophic  systems.  The  cases  of  Electicism 

The  Conies  drolatiques,  1832,  1833,  1837  ; 

His  Miscellaneous  Works,  the  collection  of  which  is  exceedingly 
incomplete  ;  and  his  Correspondence. 

There  are  two  good  editions  of  Balzac's  works,  the  first  in  20 
volumes,  Paris,  1855,  Houssiaux; — and  the  second  in  24  volumes, 
Paris,  1885,  1888,  Calmann  Levy. 

H._jules  Michelet  [Paris,  1798 ;  f  1874,  Hyeres] . 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — A.    Cochut,   in  the  Revue   des  Deux   Mondes, 
January,   1842 ; — A.  Nettement,  Histoire   de   la   litterature  sous  le 
gouvernement  de  Juillet,  vol.  ii.,  Paris,  1855  ; — H.  Taine,  Essais  de 
critique  et  d'histoire,  1855   and  1856  ; — E.  Montegut,  in  the  Revue 
des  Deux  Mondes,  February,  1857 ; — G.  Monod,  Jules  Michelet,  1875 
and  1897 ; — O.  d'Haussonville,  Etudes  biographiques  et  litteraires, 
Paris,    1876 ; — F.    Correard,    Michelet    in    the    "  Bibliotheque    des 
Classiques    populaires,"    1886 ; — J.    Simon,    Notice    historique    sur 
Michelet,  Paris,  1886 ; — E.  Faguet,  Etudes   litteraires  sur   le  XIX,, 
siecle,  Paris,  1887; — J.  Brunhes,  Michelet,  Paris,  1898. 

2.  THE  WRITER  ; — and  that  the  reason  we  have  not  dealt  with  him 
earlier  is  that  his  influence,  which  has  been  most  considerable  [Cf.  G. 
Monod,  loc.  cit.]  , — was  restricted  at  first  to  a  group  of  students, — and 
did  not  begin  to  make  itself  felt  on  the  general  public  until  towards 
1845. — Proof  of  this  assertion  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  of  all  the 
great  writers  of  his  time, — he  is,  we  believe,  the  only  one  of  whom 


MODERN    TIMES  461 

and  Komanticism  are  parallel :  both  have  been  ill  under- 
stood— and  combatted  perhaps  still  more  infelicitously — 
because  both  have,  to  a  certain  extent,  been  ill  defined. 
In  reality,  both  Victor  Hugo  and  Victor  Cousin  were  the 
most  "personal"  of  men,  and  just  as  there  is  nothing 
but  Hugo  in  the  Feuilles  d'atitomne  or  the  Voix  interieures, 
so  there  is  nothing  but  Cousin  in  his  philosophy.  If  his 
work  be  read  and  reread,  if  the  essence  and  object  of  his 
method  be  carefully  examined  and  considered,  nothing 
more  will  be  found  in  his  Eclecticism  than  the  assertion 
of  the  right  of  Victor  Cousin  to  cull  from  all  philosophic 
systems  what  belongs  to  Victor  Cousin,  while  his  "  obser- 
vation of  oneself  by  oneself  "  is  merely  an  application  of 
individualism  to  philosophy.  The  aim  of  Auguste  Comte 

Sainte-Beuve  said  nothing  prior  to  1862 ; — and  even  on  this  occasion 
[Cf.  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  ii.]  he  had  less  to  say  of  Michelet  than  of 
Louis  XIV.  and  the  Duke  of  Burgundy. — Guizot,  Mignet,  and  even 
Thiers  were  held  in  far  greater  esteem. — Taine  was  the  first  to  do 
justice  to  Michelet ; — placing  him  in  the  front  rank  of  the  poets,  as 
well  as  of  the  writers  of  his  time ; — and  his  reputation  thus  started 
by  Taine, — was  definitely  established  by  the  issue  of  his  books  : 
I'Oiseau,  1856  ;  VInsecte,  1857 ;  V Amour,  1859;  la  Femme,186Q; — 
and  of  the  concluding  volumes  of  his  Histoire  de  France,  1855-1867. 
Michelet's  humble  birth  ; — his  early  difficulties  ; — his  first  literary 
efforts  :  his  translation  of  the  Works  of  Vico,  and  his  Precis  d'histoire 
moderne,  1827. — The  first  volumes  of  the  Histoire  de  France,  1833- 
1844  [from  the  earliest  times  to  the  Renaissance]  ; — and  whether  they 
should  be  regarded,  as  they  are  by  some  critics,  as  Michelet's  master- 
piece ? — Remarks  on  this  subject ; — and  that  while  he  has  other  and 
more  lyric  qualities  than  Augustin  Thierry, — the  methods  of  the  two 
writers  are  substantially  analogous  ; — though  Michelet's  inspiration  is 
the  more  Catholic  or  the  less  hostile  to  the  Church. — It  is  surprising 
in  consequence  that  Michelet's  first  volumes  did'not  at  once  win  him 
fame ; — and  that  the  Romanticists  did  not  recognise  him  forthwith  as 
one  of  the  greatest  amongst  them. — At  this  juncture,  however,  his 
work  induces  him  to  forsake  picturesque  history  in  some  measure, — 
for  the  philosophy  of  history  ; — a  change  of  attitude  that  is  observed 
simultaneously  in  his  friend  Quinet ; — and  his  appointment  to  the 


462    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

was  to  demonstrate  the  narrowness  and  sterility  of  this 
"egoistic"  method  of  observation.  "The  so-called 
psychological  method,  he  wrote  in  his  first  Lesson,  is 
radically  null  in  its  principle.  .  .  .  Introspective  obser- 
vation,— the  italics  are  his, — gives  rise  to  almost  as  many 
divergent  opinions  as  there  are  individuals  who  fancy 
they  exercise  it.  As  to  genuine  men  of  science,  they  are 
still  demanding  in  vain  that  a  single  real  discovery  be 
cited  them  that  is  due  to  this  vaunted  method."  In 
consequence,  the  method  he  desired  to  substitute  for  that 
of  Cousin,  on  the  score  of  its  being  not  merely  the  best, 
but  in  reality  the  only  valuable  method,  was  that  which 
decrees  our  inability  to  attain  to  true  self-knowledge, 
unless  we  begin  by  looking  beyond  ourselves,  and 

College  of  France,  1837, — results  in  both  of  them  playing  an  active 
part  in  politics. 

A  second  Michelet  is  now  evolved  from  the  first, — the  Michelet  of 
the  Jesuites,  1843; — -the  author  of  the  Pretre,  de  lafemme,  et  de  la 
famille,  1845 ; — of  the  Peuple,  1846, — and  of  the  Histoire  de  la 
Revolution  francaise,  1847-1853. — At  first  sight  there  does  not  seem 
to  be  any  great  difference  between  this  second  Michelet, — and  those 
of  his  contemporaries  who  are  waging  the  same  conflict ; — while  his 
early  originality  would  seem  to  be  lost  amid  the  commonplace  ideas 
he  is  developing  with  all  the  violence  of  an  Encyclopaedist. — There  is, 
however,  a  something  in  him  that  his  fellow  combatants  lack  ; — and 
in  particular  the  faculty  of  making  what  he  says  and  what  he  writes 
instinct  with  his  personality. — He  retires  from  his  professorship  at 
the  College  of  France,  1852  [Cf.  Jules  Simon,  loc.  cit.,  p.  219-221] , — 
and  from  this  date  onwards,  during  the  last  twenty-five  years  of  his 
life, — his  reputation  and  his  influence  are  at  last  equal  to  his  merit. 

He  "  discovers  "  "  science  "  ; — natural  history  and  physiology  more 
particularly — and  as  he  remains  fundamentally  "  Romantic, "• — he 
becomes  the  poet  of  science  [Cf.  VOiseau,  VInsecte,  la  Femme, 
V Amour] . — Astonishment  of  his  contemporaries  at  seeing  him 
mingle  the  most  pronounced  crudities  of  physiological  realism  and 
the  extremest  lyricism  of  Eomantic  mysticism. — He  applies  this 
method  to  history  [Cf.  his  volume  on  the  Renaissance  and  the 
Reformation] ; — and  derives  from  it  unexpected  effects  ; — not  the 


MODERN    TIMES  463 

scrupulously  set  aside  all  personal  bias  when  we  attempt 
to  systematise  our  observations.  Far  from  our  individu- 
ality being  the  standard  by  which  we  are  to  judge  others, 
it  is,  on  the  contrary,  our  knowledge  of  our  fellow-men 
that  enables  us  to  rectify  the  idea  we  form  of  ourselves. 
Properly  speaking,  we  are  merely  the  theatre  or  the 
scene  of  our  impressions,  and  our  originality  is  in  general 
only  an  illustration  of  our  vanity,  a  mirage,  a  phantasma- 
goria. True  psychology  is  to  be  learned,  not  from  the 
study  of  ourselves,  but  from  the  study  of  what  is  outside 
us  and  around  us,  of  history  and  society.  The  connection 
which  existed  in  the  mind  of  Auguste  Comte  between 
the  conception  of  "  psychology  "  and  what  was  said  above 
of  the  progress  of  science  in  his  time,  will  doubtless  be 

least  considerable  of  which  is  to  bring  down,  as  it  were,  the  con- 
ventional dignity  of  history, — to  the  level  of  life  as  we  lead  it 
ourselves. — His  division  of  the  reign  of  Francis  I.  :  "  Before  the 
abscess  and  after  the  abscess"; — and  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  : 
"  Before  the  fistula  and  after  the  fistula." — How  closely  this  manner 
resembles,  on  the  one  hand,  that  of  Victor  Hugo ; — and  on  the  other 
that  of  Taine  and  Eenan ; — and  that  while  it  may  have  suggested  to 
Michelet  some  singular  ideas ; — it  nevertheless  renewed  history. 
Michelet  did  on  a  large  scale, — what  Sainte-Beuve  did  in  detail  in  his 
Causeries  du  htndi, — a  fact  to  which  is  due  the  attraction,  the  some- 
what questionable  attraction,  of  his  Louis  XIV.  or  his  Louis  XV. ; — 
but  which  constitutes  as  well  the  danger  of  these  works. 

Michelet's  last  works,  especially  his  Bible  de  Vhumanite,  1864  ; — 
and  the  General  Prefaces  to  his  Histoire  de  France  and  his  Histoire 
de  la  Revolution. — Return  to  his  early  symbolical  and  apocalyptic 
tendencies  ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  resemblance  between  the 
closing  phases  of  the  intellectual  evolution  of  Michelet  and  Victor 
Hugo  [Cf.  following  article] . — Analogy  between  their  methods  of 
expression ; — and  that  both  of  them  remained  Romanticists  to  the 
end; — that  is  to  say  lyric  writers,  "democrats,"  and  staunch 
spiritualists.  —  Michelet,  however,  has  the  greater  measure  of 
sensibility, — and  having  a  less  abundant  command  of  words, — he  has 
perhaps  more  sincerity. 

Of  Michelet's  influence  ; — and  that  it  has  been  considerable  ; — since, 


464    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

perceived.  All  that  we  can  affirm  with  regard  to  our 
impressions  is  that  we  have  experienced  them  ;  we  can- 
not say  that  they  are  in  conformity  with  their  cause,  or, 
in  consequence,  that  we  were  right  in  experiencing  them. 
Moreover,  unless  I  am  mistaken,  the  connection  is  not 
less  clear  between  Comte's  ideas  and  what  is  now  termed 
"  sociology." 

A  distinction  is  made  at  the  present  day  between 
"Sociology"  and  "Socialism";  though  we  are  as  little 
certain  of  what  constitutes  the  difference  as  we  are 
of  the  true  nature  either  of  "  Socialism  "  or  of  "  Soci- 
ology." Towards  1840  these  points  were  equally 
obscure,  the  very  word  "  Socialism  "  being  then  but  a 
barbarism  of  recent  invention.  Still,  there  was  already 

while  favouring  naturalism, — it  has  maintained,  in  opposition  to 
naturalism,  one  of  the  traditions  of  idealism.  For  there  has  been  no 
more  fervent  believer  in  progress  than  Michelet ; — especially  in  moral 
progress ; — as  to  the  conditions  of  which  he  may  indeed  have  been 
mistaken ; — but  to  promote  which  he  laboured  with  his  whole  soul  ; 
— and  though  particularly  inclined  to  underestimate  the  difficulty  of 
its  realisation ; — he  would  never  allow  the  matter  to  be  one  to  which 
a  writer  may  remain  indifferent. — Further,  he  worked  harder  than 
anybody  at  founding  "the  religion  of  the  Revolution"; — a  task  in 
which  he  has  succeeded,  whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contrary. — 
Finally,  with  all  its  defects, — defects  inseparable  perhaps  from  its 
qualities, — his  "History  of  France"  is  the  only  work  of  the  kind 
worthy  of  the  name ; — because  he  alone  of  all  the  historians  who 
have  attempted  such  a  work, — possessed  an  imagination  strong 
enough  to  enable  him  to  "  personalise  "  his  country  ;— and  thus  lend 
its  history  something  of  that  living  interest  which  attaches  to  bio- 
graphy.— All  other  "Histories  of  France"  are  mere  compilations. 

3.  THE  WOKKS. — Michelet's  works  may  be  divided  into :  (1)  his 
Historical  Works,  comprising  his  Histoire  de  France  [from  the 
earliest  times  to  the  Renaissance] ,  1833-1844 ;  and  its  continuation 
[from  the  Renaissance  to  the  Revolution] ,  1855-1867  ; —  his  Histoire 
de  la  Revolution,  1847-1853 ; — and  his  Histoire  du  XIXC  siecle 
[posthumous] ; — his  Histoire  roniaine,  1839 ; — and  some  miscellaneous 
writings,  including  the  Proces  den  Templiers,  2  vols.,  in  the  collec- 


MODERN   TIMES  465 

an  agreement,  or,  as  it  may  perhaps  be  said,  a  conspiracy 
between  all  the  thinkers  of  the  period  to  denounce  the 
excesses  of  individualism,  and  to  extend  beyond  litera- 
ture the  war  that  was  beginning  to  be  waged  on  that 
doctrine.  The  Christian  sociology  of  Bonald  and  de 
Maistre  was  seen  to  be  giving  rise  to  unexpected  though 
logical  consequences,  which  astonish  even  to-day  both 
their  adversaries  and  the  disciples  of  Auguste  Comte. 
Lamennais  had  written  :  "In  any  society  whatever,  self- 
renunciation  is  the  primary  condition  of  the  existence  of 
that  society.  .  .  .  Human  society  is  based  on  mutual  con- 
cessions, on  the  sacrifice  of  one  man  to  another,  or  of 
each  man  to  all  his  fellows ;  for  sacrifice  is  the  essence  of 
every  true  society.  The  evangelical  doctrine  of  self- 

tion  of  Documents  inedits  de  Vhistoire  de  France,  1851 ; — and  his 
translations  of  Vice's  works  and  of  Luther's  Table  Talk. 

(2)  His   Political   or   Polemical  Works,  the  principal   being  :  Des 
Jesuiteg,  1843 ; — Le  Pretre  la  Femme  et  la  Famille,  1845  ;  le  Temple. 
1846  ;  and  the  Cours  professe  au  College  de  France,  1848. 

(3)  His  remaining  works,  which  can  be  called  neither  "  works  of 
imagination  "  nor  yet  "  scientific  works":  VOiseau,  1856;  I'lnsecte, 
1857  ;— I' Amour,  1859;— la  Femme,  1860  ;— la  Mer,  1861 ;— la  Bible 
de  I'humanite,  1864 ; — la  Montague,  1868,  etc. 

Finally,  certain  posthumous  works,  the  principal  being:  Ma 
jeunesse,  1884;  Mon  Journal,  1888; — Sur  les  chemins  de  V Europe, 
1893. 

An  edition  in  40  volumes  of  Michelet's  Complete  Works  [Paris, 
Flammarion]  is  at  present  in  course  of  publication  under  the  super- 
vision of  Mme  Michelet.  Begun  some  years  back,  this  edition  is  now 
approaching  completion. 

III.— Victor  Marie  Hugo  [Besanson,  1802 ;  |1885,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Sainte-Beuve,  Premiers  lundis,  i.,  1827,  iii., 
1829,  and  Portraits  conternporains,  vol.  i.,  1831, 1832, 1835  ; — Gustave 
Planche's  dramatic  criticisms  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes, 
December,  1832,  February,  1833,  November,  1833;  May,  1835; 
November  and  December,  1838  ; — A.  Vinet,  Etudes  sur  la  litterature 
franqaise  au  XIXe  siecle,  Paris,  1851  ; — A.  Nettement,  Litterature 

31 


466    MANUAL    OP   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

renunciation,  so  strange  from  the  human  point  of  view, 
is  merely  the  proclamation  of  this  great  social  law  "  [Cf. 
Essai  sur  V indifference,  vol.  i.,  chap,  ii.,  1817].  More- 
over, when  he  abandoned  Christianity,  Lamennais  did  not 
abjure  the  doctrine  of  self-renunciation,  but  persevered 
with  more  ardour  than  ever  in  his  great  conflict  with  in- 
dividualism. He  converted  George  Sand  to  his  way  of 
thinking,  and  the  author  of  Lelia  now  wrote  :  "  Are  there 
not  misfortunes  that  call  more  urgently  for  relief  than  the 
boredom  of  this  or  the  whims  of  that  individual  ?  The 
masses  are  faced  by  vital  problems :  abysses  have  been 
laid  bare.  Our  tears,  unable  to  fill  them  up,  fall  into  them 
in  vain.  Amid  sufferings  so  real  and  so  profound,  what 
interest  can  be  aroused  by  the  proud  complaints  of  in- 

francaise  sous  la  Bestauration  et  sous  le  gouvernement  de  Juillet, 
Paris,  1853  ; — Charles  Baudelaire's  very  remarkable  Notice  in  Crepet's 
Becueil  des  poetes  franqais,  Paris,  1862  ;^ — Victor  Hugo  racontc  par 
un  tetnoin  de  sa  vie,  Paris,  1863 ; — Edmoiid  Eire,  Victor  Hugo  et 
la  Bestauration,  1869 ;  and  Victor  Hugo  avant  1830,  Paris,  1883 ; 
Victor  Hugo  apres  1830,  Paris,  1891 ;  Victor  Hugo  apres  1852,  Paris, 
1893  [five  volumes  which  together  form  the  most  circumstantial  but 
not  the  most  impartial  biography  there  is  of  Victor  Hugo] . 

A.  Asseline,  Victor  Hugo  intime,  Paris,  1885  ; — Leconte  de  Lisle 
and  A.  Dumas  fils,  Discours  prononces  pour  la,  reception  de  M. 
Leconte  de  Lisle,  1887  ;— Ernest  Dupuy,  Victor  Hugo,  Vhomme  et 
le  poete,  Paris,  1887  ;  Emile  Faguet,  XIX11  siecle,  Paris,  1887  ;— G. 
Duval,  Dictionnaire  des  metaphores  de  Victor  Hugo,  Paris,  1888  ; — 
G.  Pellissier,  le  Mouvement  litteraire  au  XIXe  siecle,  Paris,  1889 ; — 
F.  Brunetiere,  VEvolution  de  la  Poesie  lyrique  au  XIXe  siecle, 
1893-1895 ; — L.  Mabilleau,  Victor  Hugo,  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains 
fran§ais"  series,  1893  ;—Ch.  Eenouvier,  Victor  Hugo,  Paris,  1889- 
1893. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  POET  ; — and  of  some  interesting  points  of  com- 
parison between  Voltaire  and  Victor  Hugo ; — not  the  least  remarkable 
being  the  exceptional  shrewdness  and  practical  sense, — with  which 
they  looked  after  their  material  interests  and  regulated  their  lives. — 
Their  longevity  ; — their  fertility  ; — their  universality, — moreover,  are 
three  reasons  which  contributed  in  both  their  cases  to  make  them  the 


MODERN    TIMES  467 

tellectual  arrogance ?  The  masses  are  hungry ;  let  the 
geniuses  not  take  it  amiss  that  we  should  think  of  pro- 
viding the  people  with  bread  before  we  turn  our  attention 
to  erecting  temples  in  their  honour"  [Cf.  Lettres  d 
Marcie,  iii.,  1837].  The  movement  did  not  stop  here. 
Concern  for  "the  boredom  of  this  or  the  whims  of 
that  individual "  had  given  place  to  "  pity  for  the 
masses,"  and  there  now  followed  the  organisation  of 
this  pity  into  a  system,  its  development  into  a  philo- 
sophy. "  To  live,  is  essentially  to  have  humanity  for 
object,"  wrote  Pierre  Leroux,  and  he  explained  his  mean- 
ing in  these  terms :  "  Our  existence  is  normal  if  it  does 
not  violate  the  bond  that  unites  us  to  humanity.  We 
ought  to  live  in  consequence  as  if  we  were  to  live  eternally 

greatest,  though  not  the  most  original,  "  literary  men "  of  their 
respective  centuries.  —  Finally,  they  have  at  least  two  other  char- 
acteristics in  common : — both  of  them  possessed  in  a  supreme  degree 
the  gift  of  complying  with  the  exigencies  of  the  opinion  of  their  time  ; 
—a  fact  that  explains  their  variations  ; — and  both  owed  their  success 
in  this  direction  to  the  same  gift  of  "  virtuosity," — a  gift  which 
enabled  them  to  appropriate  the  inventions  or  the  ideas  of  their  con- 
temporaries,— with  a  view  to  transforming  them  and  to  giving  them 
definite  expression,  the  one  in  prose  and  the  other  in  verse. — That 
this  faculty  of  appropriation  is  perhaps  one  of  the  forms  of  genius 
itself ; — and  that  in  any  case  it  seems  to  constitute  the  very  definition 
of  talent. 

A.  Victor  Hugo's  early  years. — The  poet's  family  and  the  Hugo's 
of  Lorraine ; — his  mother  a  "  Vendeenne  "  ; — and,  in  this  connection, 
that  the  work  entitled  Victor  Hugo  raconte  par  un  temoin  de  sa  vie 
is  almost  as  untrustworthy  as  the  Confessions  of  J.-J.  Rousseau  [Cf. 
Eire,  Victor  Hugo  avant  1830] . — Hugo's  early  education  :  "  With  our 
victorious  camps  I  wandered  over  vanquished  Europe,  I  traversed  the 
earth  before  traversing  life  !  "  [Cf.  Odes  et  Ballades :  Mon  enfance ; 
— les  Rayons  et  les  Ombres  :  Ce  qui  se  passait  aux  Feuillantines  vers 
1813;  les  Contemplations :  Aux  Feuillantines]  ; — and  that  the  defects 
of  this  wandering  education  will  leave  their  mark  on  the  poet's  work. 
— Hugo's  first  literary  efforts ; — his  successes  in  prize  competitions  :  at 
the  French  Academy,  1817,  1819 ;— and  at  the  Floral  Games,  1819, 


468    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

amongst  humanity.  And  when  we  do  not  so  live,  we  are 
wounded  in  eternal  fashion  in  our  present  life,  which 
amounts  to  saying  that  we  suffer  in  our  eternal  life  [Cf. 
De  rhumanite.  Epilogue,  1840] .  These  are  the  doctrines 
for  which  the  word  "  Socialism  "  was  at  first  the  collective 
designation,  and  tradition  indeed  ascribes  to  Pierre  Leroux 
the  honour  of  having  invented  the  term.  Its  vogue  has 
since  been  great,  and  its  meaning  has  undergone  manifold 
corruptions,  but  at  the  outset  it  merely  expressed  the  in- 
tention of  opposing  the  excesses  of  individualism.  So  far 
as  it  was  successful  in  this  aim  it  did  more  than  discredit 
the  principle  of  Romanticism  ;  it  deprived  it  of  its  raison 
d'etre,  and  rendered  the  very  name  synonymous  with 
egoism  or  dilettantism. 

1820. — Characteristics  of  these  early  productions  ; — and  that  if  Le 
Bonheur  de  Vetude  and  Les  Avantages  de  V  enseignernent  much 
resemble  the  work  of  Delille  ; — Les  Vierges  de  Verdun  or  Mo'ise  sur 
le  Nil  are  merely  an  improvement  on  the  work  of  Lebrun  or  Jean- 
Baptiste  Rousseau. — The  Conscrvateur  litteraire ; — and  that  the  doc- 
trines upheld  in  this  publication  by  Victor  Hugo  and  his  brothers, — 
explain  and  justify  its  title. — The  Odes  of  1822. — The  influence  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott  and  the  publication  of  Han  d'Islandc,  1823. — The  second 
series  of  Odes,  1824,  and  that  they  show  the  influence  of  Vigny's 
Poemes  antiques  [Cf.  the  Chant  du  Cirque,  or  the  Chant  du, 
Tournoi]  ; — and  also  the  influence  of  Chateaubriand  ; — which  is  still 
more  apparent  in  the  Odes  et  Ballades  of  1826 ; — and  in  the  vehemence 
of  Hugo's  Royalist  inspiration. — Cromwell  and  the  preface  to  this 
play,  1827 ; — and  how  few  ideas  there  are  in  it  to  which  Stendhal 
or  Mme  de  Stael  had  not  given  expression  before  Hugo. — Hugo's  first 
relations  with  Sainte-Beuve,  1827 ; — and  that  the  connection  between 
"Romanticism"  and  the  "classic"  pleiad  dates  from  them. — From 
them  dates  as  well  the  importance  Hugo  will  henceforth  attach  to 
the  technical  side  of  his  art ; — an  importance  at  once  observable  in 
the  Orientales,  1829  [Cf .  in  particular  Le  Feu  du  del  and  les  Djinns]  ; 
— in  which  volume  indeed  the  poet  seems  to  have  wished  to  show 
Casimir  Delavigne  how  he  ought  to  have  written  the  Messeniennes. 
— Marion  Delorme,  1829 ; — Hernani,  1830  ; — Notre-Dame  de  Paris, 
1831  ; — the  Feuilles  d'automne,  1831 ; — and  that  the  Feuilles 


MODERN   TIMES  469 

It  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  history  as  well 
was  inspired  at  this  period  by  the  same  spirit.  It  would 
suffice  to  cite  in  proof  Lamartine's  Histoire  des  Girondins, 
which  in  1847  was  breeding  revolt,  so  to  speak ;  Michelet's 
Revolution;  and  Louis  Blanc's  Revolution,  the  first  volumes 
of  which  belong  to  the  same  year.  Should  it  be  objected 
that  these  works  are  of  too  political  an  order, — though 
politics  have  thrown  light  on  history  more  often  than  his- 
tory has  served  as  a  guide  to  politics, — it  would  be  enough 
to  mention  Mignet,  Tocqueville,  or  Thiers  himself,  to  recall 
the  Histoire  du  Consulat  or  the  Histoire  des  negotiations 
relatives  a  la  succession  d'Espagne,  1835-1842.  For  it  is 
abundantly  clear  from  the  works  of  these  writers  that  if 
each  of  them  has  his  personal  conception  of  history,  they 

d'automne  owe  their  inspiration  to  the  Meditations  and  the  Con- 
fessions de  J.  Delorme  in  as  great  a  degree  as  the  novel  owes  its  very 
existence  to  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Quentin  Durward. 

The  Revolution  of  1830 ; — the  preface  to  Marion  Delorme ; — and 
that  in  celebrating  in  it  "the  three  glorious  days," — Victor  Hugo  did 
not  so  much  abjure  his  Royalist  faith, — as  obey  the  principle  of  his 
lyricism; — which  is,  and  always  will  be,  to  go  for  inspiration  to 
current  events, — to  be  moved  to  song  by  all  disasters  as  by  all  victories  ; 
— and  to  be  as  much  as  possible  the  sonorous  echo  of  popular  emotion. 
— That  adopting  this  point  of  view,  there  is  no  occasion  to  distinguish 
between  Hugo's  dramatic  and  lyric  work ; — and  the  less  so  if  the 
lyricism  in  his  plays  be  now  the  only  living  element  they  contain.-  - 
The  Chants  du  crepuscule,  1835. — His  efforts  to  enter  the  Academy, 
1836-1840 ;  the  Voix  interieures,  1837  ; — the  Rayons  et  les  Ombres, 
1840. — Victor  Hugo  becomes  the  recognised  poet  of  "  Bonapartism  "  ; 
— though  in  adopting  this  attitude  he  merely  associates  himself  with 
a  new  movement  of  French  "  national  thought  "  ; — which  inspires 
him  some  of  his  finest  verses. — He  enters  the  French  Academy,  1841  ; 
— and  Louis  Philippe's  Government  consoles  him  for  the  failure  of 
the  Burgraves,  1843, — by  making  him  a  Peer  of  France,  1845. 

B.  Victor  Hugo's  three  manners ; — and  in  the  first  place,  that  their 
succession  was  far  less  "  willed  "  by  the  poet, — than  determined  by  an 
interior  force  of  which  he  never  rendered  himself  entirely  the  master  ; 
— by  the  movement  of  ideas  of  his  time ; — and  by  circumstances. 


470    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

all  of  them  firmly  believe  that  there  exists  an  historic 
certitude,  a  truth  it  is  possible  to  attain  to ;  a  truth,  too, 
which,  while  it  doubtless  is  not  necessarily  contrary  to 
the  impressions  we  receive  from  facts,  may  happen  not 
to  be  in  conformity  with  them.  It  is  even  in  the  name 
of  this  truth  that  they  contradict  and  combat  each  other, 
that  one  after  the  other  they  rewrite  the  history  of  the 
Eevolution  each  as  he  conceives  it.  They  are  conscious 
that  they  are  men,  and  subject  as  such  to  error ;  that 
they  are  imbued  with  prejudices  derived  from  their  birth, 
their  education,  or  the  nature  at  the  moment  of  their 
interests.  The  very  object  of  their  method,  however,  is 
to  rid  themselves  of  their  prejudices  or  to  guard  them- 
selves against  error,  and  they  pride  themselves  on  being, 

1.  The  lyric  inspiration; — and  that  even  in  his  first  volume,  the 
Odes  of  1822, — beneath  a  declamatory  and  old-fashioned  phraseology, 
— his  lyricism  is  recognisable  in  the  already  personal,  energetic,  and 
combative  character  of  his  verse. — That  the  Orientates  do  not  belie 
this  character ; — since  the  descriptions  which  are  their  glory ; — and 
the  finest  perhaps  in  the  French  language, — do  not  correspond  to 
anything  the  poet  has  seen  with  his  own  eyes  ; — whether  in  the  case 
of  his  Egypt  \le  Feu  du  del] ,  of  his  Turkey  \les  Tetes  du  Serail] ,  or 
of  his  Russia  [Maxeppa] ; — and  are  in  consequence  purely  subjective. 
—The  same  characteristics  are  still  more  clearly  discernible  in  the 
Feuilles  d'automne  ; — all  the  pieces  in  which,  as  Goethe  has  remarked, 
are  merely  "  occasional  pieces  "  [Cf.  Reverie  d'un  passant  a  propos 
d'un  Roi,  or  Dicte  en  presence  du  glacier  du  Rhone] ; — and  admissions 
or  confessions  of  the  poet,  who,  though  he  does  not  as  yet  descend 
into  "the  dreary  depths  of  the  gulf  within," — nevertheless  confides 
to  us  his  loves,  his  memories  and  his  regrets  [Cf.  Que  Vimporte,  6 
mon  caeur,  and  0  mes  lettres  d1  amour] . — The  Chants  du  crepuscule, 
too,  are  full  of  his  personality. — It  is  observable,  however,  that  his 
lyricism  is  less  personal  in  this  volume  as  regards  the  matter  than  as 
regards  the  manner, — doubtless  because  the  poet  is  conscious  that  the 
very  magnificence  of  his  verse  makes  it  unsuited  for  the  direct  expres- 
sion of  personal  details, — or  because  he  no  longer  finds  in  such  details 
sufficiently  rich  material  for  his  "  virtuosity." — The  same  tendency 
is  still  more  clearly  seen  in  the  Voix  interieures  or  in  the  Rayons  et 


MODERN   TIMES  471 

one  is  tempted  to  say  they  make  it  a  point  of  professional 
vanity  to  be,  the  mere  impartial  registrars  of  the  past. 
Here  again,  then,  by  a  different  channel,  truth  is  being 
readmitted  into  art ;  or,  to  express  the  situation  better, 
and  in  terms  that  do  not  lend  themselves  to  confusion, 
the  artist  is  subordinating  himself  to  his  subject  instead 
of  claiming  to  dominate  it.  Thiers,  when  he  is  relating 
the  battle  of  Marengo,  never  imagines  for  an  instant 
that  it  is  in  him,  Thiers,  that  the  reader  is  interested, 
any  more  than  Tocqueville  indulges  in  self-exhibition 
when  he  attempts  to  descry  the  future  of  democracy. 
The  facts  speak,  or  ought  to  speak,  in  their  place,  so  that 
with  these  writers  history,  falling  into  line  with  sociology, 
philosophy,  and  science,  sides  against  Romanticism. 

les  Ombres ; — two  of  his  finest  collections  of  lyrics. — In  these  works 
his  first  manner  attains  to  its  final  and  definite  expression. — "  His 
soul  .  .  .  which  the  God  whom  he  worships  placed  in  the  centre  of 
all  things  like  a  sonorous  echo,"  responds  within  him  to  the  songs, 
the  murmurs,  and  the  tears  of  the  universe. — He  now  "  scores  "  these 
utterances,  as  a  musician  might ; — that  is  he  sustains,  develops,  and 
amplifies  their  strains ; — by  the  resources  of  a  harmony  which  is  the 
outcome  of  the  combined  promptings  of  nature,  history,  and  passion 
[Cf.  Sunt  lacrimce  rerum ; — A  I 'Arc  de  triomphe ; — Fonction  du 
Poete ; — Tristesse  d'Olympio]  . — And  it  is  for  this  reason,  that  if  there 
be  elegies  more  touching  than  his,  as  are  those  of  Lamartine ; — or 
more  despairing  songs,  as  are  certain  of  those  of  Musset, — there  are 
none  more  "lyric,"  or  that  comply  more  closely  with  the  very  defini- 
tion of  this  branch  of  poetry ; — in  virtue  of  the  very  nature  of  their 
primary  inspiration ; — of  the  spaciousness,  the  magnificence,  and  the 
diversity  of  the  "  movements  "  which  the  poet  finds  to  express  his 
inspiration; — and  finally  in  virtue  of  the  "impersonal,"  general,  and 
external  element  he  already  introduces  into  his  work. 

2.  The  epic-satirical  inspiration; — and  that  if  Victor  Hugo  had 
already  risen  superior  in  the  Rayons  et  les  Ombres  to  the  admixture 
of  egoism  that  is  sometimes  present  in  pure  lyricism ; — so  far  as  it  is 
personal ; — politics  themselves ; — and  exile  ; — and  solitude ; — though 
they  had  not  detached  him  from  his  own  personality, — had  never- 
theless still  further  enlarged  his  conception  of  his  art ; — and  given  his 


472    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

Criticism,  moreover,  weary  of  the  humiliating  role  to 
which  it  has  been  subjected  for  a  score  of  years,  follows 
suit.  Sainte-Beuve  himself,  the  former  admirer,  disciple, 
and,  as  Heinrich  Heine  wittily  termed  him,  "  impresario" 
of  Hugo,  is  in  revolt ;  and  his  Port-Royal,  which  begins 
to  appear  in  1840,  his  Chateaubriand,  the  date  of  which 
is  1848,  and  his  Causeries  du  lundi,  which  are  started  in 
1849,  breathe  an  exactly  contrary  spirit  to  his  Portraits 
contemporains.  I  do  not  refer  to  his  recantations  !  For 
all  of  them  he  is  not  to  be  held  responsible,  since 
although  he  has  doubtless  changed  in  the  interval 
between  the  Meditations  and  Raphael  and  Graziella, 
Lamartine  has  changed  still  more  !  It  is  more  par- 
ticularly his  method,  and  with  his  method  the  object 

originality  its  definite  characteristics. — The  Cliatiments,  1852 ; — and 
that  while  the  volume  does  little  honour  to  Hugo's  character; — it 
contains  some  of  his  masterpieces  [Cf.  I'Obeissance  passive  ;  Toulon ; 
VExpiatiori\ ; — pieces  in  which  not  only  is  the  relationship  between 
satire  and  lyricism  even  more  apparent  than  in  the  work  of  the 
indignant  poet  of  the  lambes  ; — but  in  which  the  transition  is  detected 
as  well  from  the  lyric  to  the  epic  manner. — At  first  sight  these 
features  seem  less  observable  in  the  Contemplations,  1856 ; — but  it 
has  to  be  noted  that  although  the  Contemplations  were  not  published 
until  1856 ; — an  entire  volume  of  them  was  written  prior  to  1848  [Cf. 
in  particular  A  Villequier,  and  all  the  pieces  relating  to  the  death  of 
his  daughter] ; — while  such  pieces  as  Horror  or  Les  Mages  already 
constitute  a  link  between  the  poet's  second  and  third  manner. — On 
the  other  hand  the  Legende  des  siecles,  1859, — is  entirely  characteristic 
of  his  second  manner ; — which  although  still  lyric  or  satirical  [Cf .  the 
opening  portion  of  La  Rose  de  V Infante] ; — so  far  as  it  shows  Hugo 
not  to  have  forgotten  his  grudges  or  his  hatreds  ; — is  rather  epic ; — if, 
for  example,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  poet  had  any  other  reason  for 
writing  his  Booz  endorrni, — and  some  other  pieces  of  a  like  nature, — 
than  the  temptation  to  realise  in  them  his  visio'n  of  past  times. — He 
does  not  describe  for  the  sake  of  describing ; — but  the  things  he 
describes  interest  him  in  themselves  for  what  they  are ; — and  because 
they  are ; — and  finally  such  as  they  were. — He  even  concerns  himself 
with  things  that  do  not  interest  him  personally  at  all ; — an  attitude 


MODERN   TIMES  473 

of  his  criticism,  that  has  undergone  a  transformation. 
He  now  proceeds  on  the  lines  of  the  natural  historian, 
or  he  even  dabbles  in  physiology,  and  henceforth,  when 
his  private  grudges  or  his  vanity  are  not  at  stake,  he 
does  not  claim  for  his  impressions  that  they  are  his  own, 
but  that  they  are  in  accordance  with  the  truth. 

He  goes  a  step  further,  and  coming  to  the  conclusion 
that  in  literature  or  art  the  distinctions  between  the 
different  branches  and  the  hierarchy  of  talents  are  not 
perhaps  "what  a  vain  populace  thinks,"  he  discerns  the 
permanent  reason  and  the  primary  cause  of  this  fact  in 
the  diversity  of  the  various  "  families  of  intellects." 
Who  is  it  has  said  that  "  life  which  is  a  tragedy  for  those 
who  feel,  is  a  comedy  for  those  who  think  ?  "  This  being 

which  would  accord  with  the  very  definition  of  epic  description ; — if 
it  were  not  that,  as  when  writing  the  Orientates,  Hugo  remains  too 
indifferent  to  the  "absolute  truth"  of  these  things; — and  continues 
to  represent  them  such  as  he  imagines  them ; — without  even  being  in 
doubt  as  to  the  infallibility  of  his  imagination. — His  attitude  in  these 
respects  is  the  same  in  the  Chansons  des  Rues  et  des  Bois,  1865 ; — 
which  are  a  return  to  lyricism  as  regards  the  often  boundless  caprice 
or  "  frolicsomeness  "  of  their  inspiration; — the  variety  of  their  execu- 
tion ; — and  the  liberty  he  takes  in  them  neither  to  accept  nor  respect 
any  restraint. 

3.  TJie  apocalyptic  inspiration. — Solitary  meditation,  however,  had 
had  another  effect  on  the  poet ; — an  effect  it  is  attempted  to  convey 
in  speaking  of  his  "apocalyptic"  manner. — Scarcely  any  other  word 
conveys  the  furious  desire  to  "  vaticinate  "  that  takes  possession  of 
him ; — the  deepening  of  the  shadow  in  his  work ; — from  which  the 
rays  of  light  gleam  forth,  as  from  a  picture  by  Rembrandt,  with  all 
the  more  startling  brilliancy ; — and  the  way  in  which  he  is  haunted 
by  the  "  unfathomable." — These  are  the  characteristics  of  the  second 
Legende  des  siecles,  1877 ; — and  of  the  third,  1883. — To  express  the 
element  of  hostility  that  resides  in  the  nature  which  surrounds  and 
defies  us; — to  express  the  still  greater  horror  of  annihilation; — to 
raise  up  terrifying  visions  before  the  mind's  eye  [Cf .  I 'Epopee  du  Ver ; 
Pleurs  dans  la  nuit ;  la  Trompette  du  jugement] ,  the  poet  now  dis- 
covers unknown  images  and  accents ; — he  reminds  the  reader  of  an 


474    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOKY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

the  case,  we  are  confronted  at  once  with  two  clearly 
separated  classes,  with  two  "  families  of  intellects  " — it 
might  almost  be  said  with  two  sexes.  For  will  not  a 
woman  always  prefer  Andromaque  to  the  Misanthrope, 
Zaire  to  the  Barbier  de  Seville  (I  mean  Beaumarchais' 
work)  or  Hernani  to  Tragaldabas  ?  But  if  there  are 
families  of  intellects,  which  themselves  are  subdivided 
into  genera,  species,  and  orders,  does  it  not  follow  thai 
neither  our  impressions  nor  our  judgments  are  of  any 
value  in  criticism  ?  Whether  the  critic  blames  01 
praises,  approves  or  condemns,  it  is  not  the  sentence 
or  even  the  judge  that  is  of  importance,  but  solelj 
the  reasons  on  which  the  verdict  is  based.  Further 


^Eschylus  or  an  Isaiah  ; — and  he  turns  his  very  obscurity  to  accounl 
as  a  means  of  producing  effect. — Here,  however,  the  truth  is  seer 
of  the  famous  saying  that  "  between  the  sublime  and  the  ridiculous 
there  is  only  a  step  " ; — and  Hugo  oversteps  this  narrow  borderline 
in  le  Pape ; — VAne ; — Religions  et  Religion ;  1878-1880 ;  works  whicl 
are  unreadable  ; — whose  obscurity  is  no  longer  even  that  behind  whicl 
we  search  for  a  meaning  ; — they  are  works  which  do  not  even  procure 
us  the  sensation  of  vastness  or  giganticness ; — but  that  of  emptiness 
— works  whose  only  originality,  if  originality  it  be,  is  that  they  an 
"  frantically  commonplace." — The  reason  of  this  latter  qualificatior 
will  shortly  appear ; — when  it  has  been  shown  in  how  great  a  degree 
the  commonplace  nature  of  certain  of  Hugo's  ideas  contributed  to  hit 
popularity. — It  must  further  be  pointed  out  that  the  succession  o: 
the  poet's  three  manners  must  not  be  interpreted  too  rigidly ; — since 
even  in  VAne  there  are  traces  of  the  poet  of  the  Orientales, — just  as 
in  the  author  of  the  Feuilles  d'automne  there  are  the  beginnings  o: 
that  of  Religions  et  Religion. 

C.  The  last  years  of  Victor  Hugo  ; — and  of  the  very  great  politica 
and  social  influence  he  exerted, — not  as  a  Peer  of  France ; — or  as  £ 
member  of  the  Assemblies  of  1848  and  1850  ;— but  as  a  writer ; — bj 
his  CMtiments,  1852  ; — by  his  Napoleon  le  Petit,  1853 ; — by  his 
Miserables,  1862  ; — or  in  other  words  by  the  persistence  of  his  hatreds 
— and  the  perhaps  unconscious  skill  with  which  he  identified  their 
with  the  cause  of  "  social  progress." — The  Miserables  ; — and  thai 
originally  the  work  was  doubtless  the  outcome  of  a  desire  to  surpass 


MODERN   TIMES  475 

on  what  does  the  value  of  these  reasons  depend  if  not  on 
the  knowledge  we  possess — or  are  capable  of  possessing — 
of  the  laws  which  govern  the  human  mind  ?  The  glory 
of  Sainte-Beuve  lies  in  his  having  had  a  presentiment  of 
this  simple  truth,  though  he  did  not  always  have  the 
courage  to  apply  it.  But  for  the  moment  the  presenti- 
ment is  sufficient,  for  others  than  Sainte-Beuve  were 
shortly  to  expand  it  into  an  entirely  new  conception  of 
criticism ;  and  thus  it  came  about  that  the  author  of  the 
Confessions  de  Joseph  Delorme,  who  had  been  one  of  the 
stoutest  supporters  of  budding  Komanticism,  became  in 
his  maturity,  as  the  author  of  the  Causeries  du  lundi,  its 
most  redoubtable  antagonist. 

in  popularity  the  masters  of  the  popular  newspaper  "novel"; — the 
author  of  the  Memoires  du  Diable,  or  that  of  the  Mijsteres  de  Paris. 
—  Of  the  spirit  hi  which  the  Miserables  is  written; — of  the  art  with 
which  the  worst  popular  prejudices  are  flattered  in  it ; — and,  in  this 
connection,  that  if  Victor  Hugo  is  not  what  is  called  a  "  thinker," — his 
ideas  nevertheless  have  more  significance  than  is  usually  attributed 
to  them. — William  Shakespeare,  1864  ; — and  that  in  connection  with 
more  than  one  point  criticism  has  nothing  better  to  offer  than  some 
of  Hugo's  literary  judgments  or  intuitions. — The  Travailleurs  de  la 
Mer,  1866; — and  that  there  is  "depth"  hi  the  book  in  places; — as 
indeed  is  natural  enough ; — since  when  a  writer  possesses,  to  the 
degree  hi  which  Hugo  did,  the  gift  of  "  verbal  invention," — it  is 
impossible  that  he  should  diversely  associate  words, — without  diversely 
associating  as  well  the  ideas  they  express. — It  is  impossible,  too, 
to  treat  the  "  commonplace," — without  touching  on  the  most  general 
questions  that  interest  humanity ; — for  example,  it  is  impossible  for  a 
writer  of  Hugo's  calibre  to  develop  the  ideas  contained  in  such  words 
as  "  independence,"  "liberty,"  or  "  fatherland," — without  bringing  new 
aspects  of  things  into  evidence  [Cf.  Quatre-vingt-Treize]. — Finally, 
when  a  writer's  thoughts  do  no  more  than  follow  the  current  of 
general  opinion, — the  thoughts  he  expresses  profit  by  the  authority  of 
all  those  who  have  assimilated  them. — A  clear  example  of  this  is 
afforded  by  the  poem  Religions  et  Religion,  1880  ; — which  at  bottom 
is  merely  a  popular  expression ; — a  less  subtle  but  sufficiently  accurate 
expression  of  the  opinion  of  a  Schleiermacher,  or  a  Renan ; — to  the 


476    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

III 

It  would  perhaps  be  stretching  a  point  to  include  as 
well  among  the  adversaries  of  Romanticism  either  the 
author  of  the  Destinees,  1843-1863,  or  that  of  Emaux  et 
Camees,  1852.  However,  they  may  truthfully  be  termed 
deserters  from  the  declining  school.  Nothing  was  wanting 
in  the  first  of  the  two  to  make  him  the  greatest  of  French 
poets  but  certain  of  the  defects  of  the  second  :  the  latter's 
inexhaustible  wealth  of  verbal  invention,  his  constant 
striving  after  the  "picturesque"  and  his  virtuosity. 
Be  it  added  that  good  judges  had  divined  his  talent 
almost  at  the  outset  of  his  career :  "  Buchez  and 


effect  that  all  "positive"  religions  are  mere  limitations; — or 
deformations ;— or  corruptions  of  the  universal  religion. 

II  est  !     Mais  nul  cri  d'ange  ou  d'homme,  nul  effroi, 
Nul  amour,  nulle  bouche,  humble,  ou  tendre  ou  superbe, 
Ne  peut  distinctement  balbutier  ce  verbe  ! 
II  est !  II  est !  II  est !  II  est  eperdument. 

The  foregoing  remark  brings  us  back  to  our  comparison  between  Victor 
Hugo's  role  and  that  of  Voltaire ; — and  without  insisting  on  that 
"Deism"; — the  fortunes  of  which  both  of  them  imagined  they 
would  establish  the  more  solidly, — in  proportion  as  they  maltreated 
positive  religions, — three  great  differences  are  discerned  between  the 
two  roles. — The  first  is  all  to  the  advantage  of  Hugo,  who  is  the  most 
"  extraordinary  "  of  French  lyric  poets; — and  who  in  his  masterpieces 
shows  himself  the  greatest  writer  of  verse  France  possessed  ; — while 
Voltaire  has  many  superiors  among  French  prose  writers. — On  the 
other  hand,  Voltaire  possesses  two  qualities  which  Victor  Hugo  lacked  : 
— a  wide,  varied,  and  substantial  culture  which  even  borders  in  some 
departments  on  erudition  ;  —  and,  secondly,  he  was  indifferent  to 
none  of  the  manifestations  of  the  spirit  of  his  time ; — whereas  Victor 
Hugo's  curiosity  was  never  excited  in  the  least  degree  by  the 
"  scientific "  and  philosophic  movement  of  his  period. — And  it  is 
perhaps  in  this  respect  that  he  is  a  poet ; — if  all  great  poets  have  had 
their  attention  fixed  in  a  general  way  on  the  past ; — but  it  is  also  for 
this  reason  that  while  he  apparently  filled  the  same  role  as  Voltaire, 


MODERN    TIMES  477 

his  friends,  relates  Sainte-Beuve,  had  noted  among 
the  Romantic  school  the  commanding  personality  of 
M.  de  Vigny  and  had  endeavoured  to  recruit  him." 
The  critic  goes  on  to  say  that  de  Vigny  declined  these 
advances, — he  being  too  proud,  and  rightly  too  proud, 
ever  to  belong  to  any  other  school  than  his  own, — "  but 
from  this  moment  he  was  brought  to  occupy  himself  with 
certain  social  questions  to  a  greater  extent  than  he  had 
done  hitherto  "  [Cf .  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  vi.,  p.  420]. 
And  the  fact  is  that  the  Romantic  element  which  is  still 
to  be  found  in  Stello,  1832,  and  Chatterton,  1835,  has 
greatly  diminished  in  Grandeur  et  Servitude  militaires, 
while  mere  traces  of  it  are  all  that  subsist  in  the  Sauvage, 

— he  is  not  in  an  equal  degree  with  Voltaire  the  "  personification  " 
of  his  time. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Victor  Hugo's  works  are  easy  to  classify,  and 
overlooking  his  quite  youthful  productions  which  he  disregarded 
himself,  comprise : 

His  Poems:  Odes  et  Ballades,  1822,  1824,  1826,  1828;  — the 
Orientales,  1829  ; — Feuilles  d'automne,  1831 ;  —  the  Chants  du 
crepuscule,  1835;  —  the  Voix  interieures,  1837;  —  the  Rayons  et 
les  Ombres,  1840; — the  CJidtiments,  1852;  —  the  Contemplations, 
1856  ; — the  Legende  des  siecles  [in  three  parts] ,  1859,  1877,  1883 ; — 
the  Chansons  des  Rues  et  des  Bois,  1865; — VAnnee  terrible,  1871 ; — 
V Art  d'etre  grand-pere,  1877  ; — le  Pape,  1878  ; — la  Pitie  siqjreme, 
1879; — I'Ane,  1880;  —  Religions  et  Religion,  1880;  —  the  Quatre 
Vents  de  V esprit,  1881 ; — the  Theatre  en  liberte,  1884. 

His  Plays  [Cf.  above  :  THE  ROMANTIC  DRAMA]  . 

His  Novels  :  Bug  Jargal,  1818,  1826  ; — Han  d'Islande,  1823 ;— le 
Dernier  jour  d'un  condamne,  1829  ; — Notre-Dame  de  Paris,  1831 ; — 
Claude  Gueux,  1834  ; — the  Miserables,  1862 ; — the  Travailleurs  de  la 
Mer,  1866; — VHomme  qui  rit,  1869;  —  and  Quatre-vingt-Treize, 
1874. 

His  Political  Works  : — Etude  sur  Mirabeau,  1834  ; — Napoleon  le 
Petit,  1852 ; — Histoire  d'un  Crime,  1852-1877  ; — and  the  four  volumes 
entitled  Avant  VExil ;  Pendant  VExil ;  and  Depuis  VExil. 

Finally  :  Litterature  et  philosophic  melees,  1834  ; — le  Rhin,  1842  ; 
William  SJuikespeare,  1864  ; — VArchipel  de  la  Mancte,  1884. 


the  Mort  du  loup,  1843,  the  Maison  du  berger,  1844,  and 
the  Bouteille  a  la  mer,  1854.  Is  it  for  this  reason  that 
Sainte-Beuve,  for  his  part,  declares  that  these  works 
show  "a  decline"?  It  is  the  exact  contrary  that  is 
true.  Vigny  has  left  no  finer  verses,  no  verses  more 
typical  of  his  genius,  or  which  give  a  nobler  idea  of  the 
poet.  The  Mort  du  loup  : 

Seul  le  silence  est  grand,  tout  le  reste  est  faiblesse  ; 
the  Maison  du  berger : 

J'ainie  la  majeste  des  souflrances  humaines  ; 
the  Bouteille  a  la  mer  : 

Le  vrai  Dieu,  le  Dieu  fort  est  le  Dieu  des  idees  ; 

Since  Hugo's  death,  eight  or  nine  volumes  of  posthumous  works 
and  two  volumes  of  his  Correspondence  have  been  published. 

His  Complete  Works — less  the  Correspondence — have  been  issued 
in  56  volumes,  in  8vo,  Paris,  1885-1892,  Hetzel. 

IV.— George  Sand  (Amantine— Lucile— Aurore  Dupin, 
Baroness  Dudevant),  [Nohant,  1804;  f  1876,  Nohant]. 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — George    Sand,  Histoire  de  ma  vie,  1854-1855 ; 
and  Corres2)ondance,  1882-1884  [Cf.  her  early  novels,  Indiana,  Valen- 
tine, and  later,  Elle  et  Lui] . 

Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  contemporains,  vol.  i.,  1832,  1833 ;  and 
Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  i.,  1850 ; — Gustave  Planche,  in  the  Revue  des 
Deux  Mondes  for  December,  1832,  August,  1833,  and  October,  1834  ; 
— Comte  T.  Walsh,  George  Sand,  Paris,  1837  ; — A.  Vinet,  Etudes  sur 
la  litterature  francaise  au  XIXC  siecle,  article  written  in  connection 
with  the  preceding  book  ; — Lerminier  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes, 
April,  1844 ; — Charles  de  Mazade,  ibid.,  May,  1857 ; — O.  d'Hausson- 
ville,  Etudes  biographiques  et  litteraires,  Paris,  1879  ; — Caro,  George 
Sand,  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivams  francais "  series,  1887 ; — Ernile 
Faguet,  XIX"  siecle,  Paris,  1887 ; — F.  Brunetiere,  Evolution  de  la 
Poesie  lyrique,  1893. 

2.  THE  WRITER  ; — and  in  the  first  place  of  the  threefold  contrast 
afforded  by  the  regularity  of  her  production  and  the  irregularity  of 
her  existence ; — the  delicate  brilliancy  of  her  imagination  and  the  vio- 
lence of  some  of  the  opinions  she  championed ; — and  the  impersonal 


MODERN   TIMES  479 

are  strewn  with  lines  which  haunt  our  memories.  The 
sturdy  admonition  he  opposed  to  the  lamentations 
with  which  the  Eomanticists  had  wearied  their  contem- 
poraries :  "to  complain,  to  weep,  to  pray,  is  equally  cow- 
ardly," has  more  especially  been  hearkened  to.  Finally, 
by  means  of  the  symbol,  which  he  restored  to  its  original 
use, — the  expression,  that  is,  of  the  relationship,  no  less 
certain  than  obscure,  between  the  pure  idea  and  plastic 
form, — all  these  pieces,  or  rather  all  these  poems,  brought 
back  poetry  to  a  consciousness  of  its  object  and  of  its 
social  function.  "I  am  merely  a  sort  of  epic  moralist," 
he  has  said  of  himself  [Cf.  Journal  d'un  poete,  1834], 
and  it  would  be  impossible  to  describe  him  better,  or  to 

character  of  her  style  and  the  individualist  inspiration  of  her  early 
novels. 

Extraction,  family,  and  education  of  Aurore  Dupin  [Cf.  Histoire 
de  ma  vie]  ; — her  marriage ; — her  first  Letters  [Cf .  in  particular  letter 
dated  Bagneres,  28  August,  1825] . — Her  separation  from  her  hus- 
band [Cf.  Letter  of  December  3,  1830,  and  Indiana] ;— her  residence 
in  Paris  and  her  first  literary  efforts. — Henri  de  Latouche  and  Jules 
Sandeau. — Rose  et  Blanche,  1831 ; — Indiana,  1831 ; — Valentine,  1832  ; 
— Lelia,  1833  ; — Jacques,  1834  ; — -and  that  the  originality  of  these 
works  is  not  so  much  that  they  proclaimed  the  "  divine  right "  of 
passion, — as  that  in  consequence,  amongst  other  merits  [Rose  et 
Blanche  must  be  excepted]  of  the  freshness  and  poetic  truth  of  the 
background; — the  "bourgeois  "  and  in  particular  the  real  character 
of  the  plot ; — and  the  fluent  and  copious  style  ; — they  definitely  made 
of  the  novel  a  form  of  literature  "  capable  of  being  the  vehicle  of 
thought." — This  had  not  been  done  since  the  Nouvelle  Helo'ise, 
1761,  and  since  Corinne,  1807. — But  Corinne  was  placed  amid 
unusual  conditions  ; — and  Rousseau's  novel  offered,  properly  speaking, 
no  fictional  "interest," — while  there  is  such  an  interest  both  in 
Valentine  and  Indiana ; — and  whatever  the  social  situation  of  George 
Sand's  heroines  may  be,  there  is  at  least  nothing  extraordinary  about 
their  adventures. — Can  as  much  be  said  of  their  sentiments  ; — and  in 
particular  of  those  which  find  expression  in  Jacques  and  Lelia  ? — If 
as  much  cannot  be  said, — if,  on  the  contrary,  these  works  ought  to 
be  called  personal  or  "  lyric  "  novels, — it  results  that  it  is  for  this 


480    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

determine  better  how  and  in  what  respect  his  influence, 
to  begin  with,  parted  company  with  that  of  the  Roman- 
ticists, and  ended  by  triumphing  over  it. 

He  had  also  said :  "A  book,  as  I  conceive  it,  ought  to 
be  composed,  sculptured,  gilded,  cut,  finished  and  filed 
and  polished  like  a  statue  of  Parian  marble,"  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  he  has  fallen  too  short,  in  his  finest 
poems,  of  this  artistic  ambition.  The  honour  of  realis- 
ing it  was  to  belong  to  a  writer  who  is  still  sometimes 
regarded  as  the  most  uncompromising  of  Romanticists, 
who  was  so  in  1830,  but  who  did  not  remain  so,  and  who, 
on  the  contrary,  merely  by  the  manner  in  which  he  trans- 
formed the  art  of  descriptive  writing,  might  alone  and 

reason  that  they  are  Romantic, — or  even  Byronian. — It  should  be 
added  that  since  their  Romanticism  is  unaccompanied  by  an  exotic 
background, — and  since  they  deal  with  contemporary  life  ; — they  are 
Romantic  in  a  different  way  from  Cinq-Mars  or  Notre-Dame  de  Paris, 
— and  the  combination  of  all  these  circumstances  sufficiently  explains, 
— to  say  nothing  of  the  author's  sex, — how  it  was  that  two  novels, 
Indiana  and  Valentine,  should  have  been  enough  to  render  the  name 
of  George  Sand  illustrious  in  two  years ; — a  name  rendered  famous 
a  year  later  by  Lelia ; — and  more  famous  still  the  following  year 
by  what  may  be  termed  the  adventure  of  the  "  loves  of  Venise." 

Of  a  saying  of  the  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne  to  the  effect  that 
" under  the  reign  of  women  it  is  the  men  who  govern"; — and  how 
signally  it  is  borne  out  by  the  literary  life  of  George  Sand  ; — if  from 
Mauprat,  1837,  down  to  the  publication  of  the  Histoire  de  ma  vie, 
1854-1855, — the  key  to  the  history  of  her  work  is  furnished  by  her 
masculine  friendships. — The  fact  is,  that  for  some  fifteen  or  sixteen 
years  her  "  virtuosity," — very  different  from  that  of  Hugo, — exer- 
cised itself  almost  exclusively  in  giving  artistic  shape, — to  the  ideas 
which  were  suggested  to  her. — The  influence  of  Lamennais  and  the 
Lettres  a  Marcie  ;  Spiridion ;  les  Sept  cordes  de  la  lyre,  1839. — The 
influence  of  Pierre  Leroux  and  the  socialist  or  humanitarian  novels  : 
the  Compagnon  du  tour  de  France,  1840,  the  Peche  de  Monsieur 
Antoine,  1845. — The  influence  of  Chopin  and  of  Liszt :  Consuelo, 
1842-1843. — The  influence  of  freemasonry  :  the  Comtesse  de  Rudol- 
stadt,  1844. — The  influence  of  Barbes  and  George  Sand's  role  in  the 


MODERN   TIMES  481 

unaided  have  evolved  out  of  Komanticism  the  naturalistic 
doctrines  it  contained  in  a  dormant  state.  "  I  have  been 
to  Constantinople,"  Theophile  Gautier  has  said,  "to  be 
a  Mussulman  at  my  ease ;  to  Greece,  for  the  Parthenon 
and  Phideas  ;  to  Russia,  for  the  snow  and  Byzantine  art ; 
to  Venice,  for  Saint  Mark  and  the  palace  of  the  Doges  " 
[Cf.  Bergerat,  Theophile  Gautier,  pp.  126,  127].  Is  it 
not  clear  that  Gautier,  when  he  ceases  thus  to  be  a  mere 
traveller  or  tourist,  and  constitutes  himself  the  historian 
or  the  painter  of  the  countries  he  traverses,  adopts  an 
attitude  which  amounts  to  a  resolve  to  put  aside  his 
personality,  so  as  to  leave  himself  free  to  receive  the 
impressions  the  places  he  visits  will  make  on  him? 

revolution  of  1848. — Still,  amid  the  conflicting  action  of  these  various 
influences, — she  is  mindful  of  her  native  district  of  Bern ; — and  she 
retains  her  love  of  nature ; — and  her  taste  for  peasant  manners 
[Cf.  La  mare  au  diable,  1846 ;  La  petite  Fadette,  1849 ;  Francois  le 
Champi,  1850] . — And  the  success  of  these  novels, — on  the  morrow  of 
the  adventures  of  the  Kevolution, — has  a  twofold  result : — it  reconciles 
her  with  the  general  public ; — on  whom  she  had  seemed  disposed 
to  turn  her  back  with  a  view  to  addressing  herself  exclusively  to  the 
"  populace  ", — while  the  general  public,  coming  to  regard  her  as  a 
great  talent  reclaimed  from  party  spirit,  is  reconciled  with  her  in  turn. 
For  her  part  she  profited  in  two  ways  by  her  connection  with 
socialism  : — in  the  first  place  she  was  brought  to  perceive  the  danger 
of  "  individualism  "  ; — and  in  the  second  place  to  understand  that  the 
world  is  vaster  than  the  little  we  can  learn  of  it  by  our  personal  expe- 
rience would  lead  us  to  suppose. — We  are  not  the  only  human  beings, 
and  our  ills  are  not  the  sum  total  of  ills ; — there  are  other  and  more 
cruel  misfortunes  than  to  have  made  a  loveless  marriage  like  Valen- 
tine ; — or  than  to  have  found,  like  Lelia,  that  pleasure  ends  in  disgust. 
— Hence  the  new  character  of  the  novels  of  her  last  period ; — with 
the  exception  of  Elle  et  Lui,  1859,  which  is  her  rather  tardy  answer 
to  the  Confession  d'un  Enfant  du  siecle. — Jean  de  la  RocJie,  1860  ; 
— the  Marquis  de  Villemer,  1861 ; — Tamaris,  1862 ; — Mile  de  la 
Quintinie,  1863  [a  rejoinder  to  Octave  Feuillet's  Histoire  de  Sibylle] . 
— She  does  not  abjure  her  ideas  ; — she  is  always  ready  to  plead  what 
she  believes  to  be  the  cause  of  liberty  ; — she  is  opposed  to  all  moral 

32 


482    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Neither  Musset  nor  Hugo  would  have  been  capable  of  this 
self-suppression.  Moreover,  as  it  is  impossible  for  anj 
brain  to  convert  itself  naturally,  spontaneously,  into  a 
"photographic  dark-room,"  as  it  were,  the  principle 
has  for  consequence  that  we  shall  begin  by  arranging 
to  keep  our  impressions  as  far  as  possible  from  the 
influence  of  our  personality — an  attitude  directly  opposed 
to  that  of  the  Romanticists.  Moreover,  as  the  onlj 
chance  of  this  effort  being  successful  lies  in  our  exercising 
perpetual  attention  in  the  choice  of  the  means  we  shaL 
employ  to  express  our  impressions,  there  results  a 
constant  and  scrupulous  regard  for  style,  an  anxious 
vigilance  in  the  matter,  which  the  Eomanticists  were 

or  political  restraint ; — but  the  ardour  of  her  apostolate  abates  ; — anc 
still  more  the  ardour  of  her  faith  in  revolt. — Antonia,  1863 ; — tht 
Confession  d'une  jeune  fille,  1865 ; — Monsieur  Silvestre,  1866  ; — Lt 
Dernier  Amour,  1867 ; — Mile  Merguem,  1868. — If  she  does  not  applj 
herself  to  making  her  imagination  "  subservient "  to  her  models ; — she 
nevertheless  introduces  much  less  of  herself  into  her  depictions  o: 
them ; — and  her  interest  is  centred  in  the  lifelike  air, — if  not  in  th< 
reality  she  lends  them  [Cf.  her  correspondence  with  Flaubert,  anc 
below  the  article  FLAUBERT]  . — She  experiences  vaguely  the  retro 
spective  influence  of  the  daily  growing  popularity  of  Balzac ; — and  o; 
that  "  realism"  which  she  helped  to  bring  into  existence. — Her  Ias1 
works  :  Francia,  1871 ; — Nanon,  1872 ; — Flamarande,  1875  ; — the 
Tour  de  Percemont,  1876. — If  we  do  not  allude  to  her  plays,  the 
reason  is  that  they  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  her  work ; — the  rare 
successes  she  met  with  on  the  stage, — being  due  to  the  technical  skil' 
of  those  who  collaborated  with  her. 

Of  the  main  defect  of  George  Sand's  novels  ; — and  that  apart  froir 
the  naive  immorality  of  certain  of  them ; — it  lies  in  the  fact  thai 
while  they  have  a  realistic  starting-point ; — they  all  of  them  fall  awaj 
into  vagueness  as  they  continue  or  before  they  are  concluded. — This 
feature  may  be  expressed  in  other  terms  ; — and  in  such  a  way  as  tc 
include  both  the  good  and  the  bad  qualities  ; — by  saying  that  frorr 
Indiana  to  the  Marquis  de  Villemer, — all  George  Sand's  novels  art 
poems  in  prose, — rather  than  studies  of  manners ; — and  it  must  be 
added:  "improvised"  poems  in  prose. 


MODEEN    TIMES  483 

also  without,  at  which,  indeed,  the}'  had  been  a  little 
inclined  to  scoff  [Cf.  Lamartine,  Lettre  a  M.  Leon  Bruys 
d'Ouilly ',  and  Musset,  Apres  une  lecture],  and  the 
absence  of  which  carries  with  it  the  penalty  that  even 
their  masterpieces  have  a  certain  air  of  negligence  or 
improvisation.  With  the  author  of  Emaux  et  Camees  a 
generation  of  artists  succeeds  a  generation  of  improvisa- 
tors. To  his  name  might  be  joined  that  of  Theodore  de 
Banville,  in  virtue  of  his  Cariatides,  1842,  his  Stalactites, 
1846,  and  his  Odelettes,  1856,  were  it  not  that  too  often 
the  art  in  these  works  leaves  the  impression  that  it  has 
been  achieved  for  the  sake  of  amusement  or  even  of 
a  wager,  and  further  that  the  author  of  the  Odes  funam- 

3.  THE  WORKS. — George  Sand's  principal  novels  have  been  men- 
tioned in  the  course  of  the  above  notice. — Her  complete  works  form 
over  a  hundred  volumes  [Michel  Levy's  edition]  ; — not  including  the 
four  volumes  of  the  Histoire  de  ma  vie ; — and  the  six  volumes  that 
have  appeared  up  to  now  of  her  Correspondence. 

V.  Charles- Augustin  Sainte-Beuve  [Boulogne-sur-Mer,  1804 ; 

f  1869,  Paris] . 

1.  THE    SOURCES. — Sainte-Beuve's    own    works  :    Portraits    con- 
temporains,  vol.  ii. ; — Portraits   litteraires,  vol.  ii. ; — Causeries  du 
lundi,  vol.  xi. ; — and  the  index  volume  of  the  Causeries  ; — Nouveaux 
lundis,  vol.  xiii. ; — Lettres  a  la  Princesse  ; — and  his  Correspondence. 

Gustave  Planche,  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  September,  1851 ; 
— Cuvillier-Fleury,  Etudes  Jiistoriques  et  litteraires,  1854; — Alfred 
Michiels,  Histoire  des  idees  litteraires  en  France  au  XIX"  siecle, 
1843,  1848,  1861,  1864. 

J.  Levallois,  Sainte-Beuve,  1872 ; — Pons,  Sainte-Beuve  et  ses 
inconnues,  1879 ; — J.  Troubat,  Souvenirs  du  dernier  secretaire  de 
Sainte-Beuve,  1890. 

O.  d'Haussonville,  Sainte-Beuve,  sa  vie  et  ses  ceuvres,  1875 ; — 
F.  Brunetiere,  VEvolution  des  genres,  vol.  i.,  1889 ; — and  VEvolution 
de  la  poesie  lyrique,  vol.  i.,  1894 ; — Emile  Faguet,  Sainte-Beuve,  in 
the  Revue  de  Paris,  February,  1897. 

2.  THE  WRITER. — His  extraction ; — and  that  it  would  be  useless  to 
note  that  he  was  born  at  Boulogne-sur-Mer, — if  the  circumstance  had 


484    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

bulesques,  1857,  too  frequently  seems  to  be  making  fur 
of  his  subject,  his  public,  and  himself. 

If  all  these  influences  be  considered  together,  it  is  nol 
surprising  that  towards  1850, — between  1848  and  1855— 
the  reaction  already  started  against  Romanticism  shoulc 
continue  and  be  crowned  with  success  in  every  brand: 
of  literature  simultaneously.  The  politics  of  Romanti- 
cism, of  which  the  Revolution  of  1848  was  the  bank- 
ruptcy, are  attacked  at  the  same  time  as  its  ethics  anc 
its  aesthetics.  The  Chdtiments,  indeed,  are  applaudec 
because,  side  by  side  with  nameless  scurrility,  they  con- 
tain some  of  Hugo's  finest  verses;  but  for  various  reasons 
some  of  them  political  and  others,  more  numerous,  literary 

not  procured  him  the  patronage  of  Daunou, — who  belonged  to  th< 
same  town  ; — whose  conversations  imbued  him  with  the  spirit  of  th< 
eighteenth  century ; — to  whose  influence  he  perhaps  owed  his  admis 
sion  to  the  staff  of  the  Globe,  1824 ; — and  on  whose  advice  it  was  thai 
he  wrote  his  first  work:  the  Tableau  de  lapoesie  franqaise  aw  XVI 
siecle,  1827-1828. 

A.  The  Poet ; — and  his  role  in  the  Bomantic  revolution.— He  con 
trived,  by  connecting  Romanticism  with  the  Pleiad  and  Andr< 
Chenier, — to  provide  the  innovators  with  a  long  line  of  ancestors ; — 
less  illustrious,  but  dating  further  back  than  those  claimed  by  th( 
pseudo-Classicists. — Having  recognised  in  Ronsard  [Cf.  above  th< 
article  RONSARD]  , — the  greatest  inventor  of  rhythms  and  the  crafts 
man  who  had  handled  them  most  skilfully  in  French  literature, — h( 
taught  the  Romanticists  in  general, — and  Victor  Hugo  in  particular 
— the  power  and  virtue  of  form  [Cf.  the  celebrated  piece : 

Rime,  qui  donnes  leurs  sons 
Aux  chansons  .  .  . 

— or  again,  in  the  Pensees  d'aout,  the  Epitre  a  Villemairi\ . — Later,  ir 
the  Confessions  de  Joseph  Delorme,  1829 ; — and  in  his  Consolations 
1831, — he  carried  lyricism, — so  far  as  it  is  the  expression  of  the  per 
sonality  of  the  poet, — to  positively  morbid  lengths  ; — and  in  this  respeci 
he  was  one  of  the  forerunners  of  Baudelaire. — Finally  in  the  Penseet 
d'aout,  1837, — as  if  convinced  that  lyricism  thus  conceived  could  onl^ 
last  for  a  limited  time, — finding  that  he  had  nothing  left  of  interest  t< 


MODERN   TIMES  485 

it  occurs  to  nobody  to  imitate  them.  The  prodigious 
facility  of  the  poet  resembles  incontinence,  and  the  torrent 
of  his  invention  assuredly  bears  along  in  its  course  more 
words  or  sounds  than  ideas!  To  the  "unappreciated 
woman  "  of  the  novels  of  George  Sand, — who  herself  is 
reverting  to  the  peasant  heroines  of  the  Mare  au  diable 
or  La  Petite  Fadette, — or  of  her  imitators,  the  school  "  of 
good  sense  "  is  opposing  the  bourgeois  comedies  of  Canaille 
Doucet  and  Augier.  The  courtesan  is  stripped  of  the 
poetic  halo  with  which  Romanticism  had  endowed  her, 
and  in  the  place  of  Marion  Delorme  or  of  Lelia  she 
becomes  Marguerite  Gautier  [Cf .  the  Dame  aux  Camelias, 
1852],  Suzanne  d'Ange  [Cf.  the  Demi-Monde,  1855],  or 

say  in  verse, — he  wrote  poetry  which  is  merely  rather  poor  prose ; — 
but  which  nevertheless  acclimatised  in  contemporary  French  poetry 
a  taste  for  the  insignificant ; — and  sympathy  with  the  mediocre. 

B.  The  Critic. 

1.  From  1824  to  1837.—  This  is  the  period  of  the  Portraits 
Utteraires  and  of  the  Portraits  contemporains ; — a  militant  and 
active  period, — during  which,  when  his  criticism  does  not  serve  him 
as  a  means  to  satisfy  his  grudges ; — and  to  rank  the  authors  he  treats 
with  a  view  to  the  position  to  which  he  himself  pretends  as  a  poet ; — 
it  is  little  else  than  the  diary  of  his  personal  impressions ; — and  in 
this  sense  purely  Romantic. — The  nature,  however,  of  his  impres- 
sions seems  to  indicate  that  he  is  already  primarily  concerned  with 
learning  the  conditions  under  which  the  works  he  deals  with  were 
written  ; — while  satisfaction  at  pointing  out  their  defects ; — the  desire 
to  judge  them ; — or  even  the  pleasure  of  enjoying  them, — are  but 
secondary  considerations  with  him ; — and  thus  it  comes  about  that 
from  a  purely  subjective  criticism, — there  is  evolved  and  there  is 
already  disengaged, — a  psychological  criticism, — whose  tendency  is 
to  subordinate  the  study  or  examination  of  the  "  works  "  to  a  know- 
ledge of  their  "  authors  "  ; — and  of  their  mode  of  life. — Novelty  at  the 
time  of  this  style  of  criticism ; — and  that  it  was  not  without  analogy 
with  the  nature  of  the  investigations  which  Balzac  was  declaring  to 
be  the  object  of  the  novelist's  art ; — a  fact  which  is  perhaps  the 
explanation  of  the  bitter  hostility  between  the  two  writers — Kara 
concordia  f rat  rum  I — fraternal  feuds  being  especially  common  in 


486    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

Olympe  Taverny  [Cf.  the  Mariage  d'Olympe].  A  not 
less  significant  example  is  that  of  a  young  writer  [Octave 
Feuillet]  who,  after  beginning  his  career,  towards  1845, 
under  the  auspices  of  Eomanticism,  parts  company  little 
by  little  with  his  masters,  and  leaving  them  discreetly, 
without  fuss  or  hubbub,  in  a  word  politely,  starts  in  Le 
Village,  1852,  in  Dalila,  1853,  in  the  Petite  Comtesse,  1856, 
a  campaign  he  will  continue  until  his  death,  no  longer 
merely  against  the  courtesan,  but  against  "  passion " 
itself. 

In  the  meantime,  from  the  solitary  retreat  where  he  is 
toiling  at  the  most  laborious  of  masterpieces,  another 
writer  reviews  the  glories  of  Eomanticism,  according  his 

literature ; — and  nothing  separating  men  more  profoundly  than  the 
circumstance  that  they  are  employing  opposite  means  to  compass  the 
same  end. — And  the  fact  is  that,  in  spite  of  differences,  Balzac's 
novels  and  Saint-Beuve's  criticism  are  marked  by  the  same  kind  oi 
"indiscretion"; — the  same  "anatomical"  treatment  or  the  same 
"dissection"  of  the  "subjects"  ; — the  same  calm  audacity; — while, 
finally,  they  produce  the  same  lifelike  effects. — Comparison,  in  this 
respect,  between  the  criticism  of  Villemain  and  the  criticism  of  Sainte- 
Beuve ; — and  how  much  more  abstract,  more  unsubstantial,  less  keen 
and  less  penetrating  the  first  is  than  the  second. 

2.  From  1837  to  1850 ; — or  from  the  lectures  delivered  at  Lausanne 
on  the  Port-Royal,  to  those  at  Liege  on  Chateaubriand  and  his  literary 
group.— This  is  the  really  fruitful  period ; — that  in  which  a  recon- 
ciliation is  effected  in  Sainte-Beuve's  criticism,  freed  from  the  tram- 
mels of  Eomanticism, — between  the  criticism  which  "feels  "  and  the 
criticism  which  "explains  "  ;• — through  the  medium  of  a  deeper  and 
more  exact  knowledge  of  history. — The  Port-Royal,  and  of  its  im- 
portance in  this  respect. — How  its  author  pays  simultaneous  attention 
to  three  matters  : — examination  of  works ; — analysis  of  sentiments  ; — 
and  appreciation  or  judgment  of  ideas  [Cf.  in  particular  the  chapters 
devoted  to  Pascal] . — How  three  qualities  are  combined  to  their 
mutual  strengthening  in  the  work : — the  precision  of  the  historian  ; — 
the  subtilty  of  the  psychologist ; — the  decision  of  the  judge  [Cf .  in 
particular  the  chapters  .  on  Montaigne,  Saint  Fra^ois  de  Sales, 
Corneille  and  Boileau] . — And  how,  from  the  example  thus  given,  there 


MODERN   TIMES  487 

approval  to  none  of  them  with  the  exception  of  Hugo, 
complaining  that  Lamartine  writes  badly,  blaming  Musset 
for  having  believed  "neither  in  himself,  nor  in  his  art, 
but  in  his  passions,"  mocking  at  his  "  dandyism,"  and 
finding  fault  with  the  "emphasis  with  which  he  sounds 
the  praises  of  sentiment,  the  heart  and  love  "  [Cf.  Flaubert, 
Correspondence,  vol.  ii.,  p.  110, 1852],  His  voice  is  echoed 
by  that  of  a  poet : 

Tel  qu'un  morne  animal,  meurtri,  plein  de  poussiere, 
La  chaine  au  cou,  hurlant  au  chaud  soleil  d'ete, 
Promene  qui  voudra  son  cceur  ensanglante, 
Sur  ton  pave  cynique,  6  plebe  carnassiere.  .  . 

Both  Flaubert  and  Leconte  de  Lisle  proclaim  in  reality 

resulted  three  definite  obligations  for  criticism : — the  obligation  to 
explain ; — the  obligation  to  classify  ; — and  the  obligation  of  tending, 
by  means  of  the  interpretation  of  literary  works,  towards  a  "philo- 
sophic" knowledge  of  the  human  intelligence. — That  for  all  these 
reasons  Port-Royal  is  beyond  question  one  of  the  great  books  of  the 
century ; — and  the  work  of  Sainte-Beuve  one  of  the  most  original  of 
our  tune ; — as  well  as  one  of  the  most  fertile  in  consequences. 

3.  From  1850  to  1870. — The  period  of  the  Causeries  du  lundi  and 
of  the  Nouveaux  lundis  ; — the  most  vaunted  portion  of  Sainte-Beuve' s 
work  ; — but  not  however  the  best ; — since  the  author  is  too  constantly 
influenced  in  his  appreciation  of  works  and  still  more  of  men  by 
"topical"  hatreds; — since  not  one  of  his  contemporaries  dies 
[Balzac,  1850 ;  Musset,  1857 ;  Vigny,  1863]  without  his  using  or 
abusing  the  opportunity  to  settle  his  old  quarrels  with  them ; — and 
since  by  dint  of  carrying  his  method  to  extremes  he  is  brought  to 
concern  himself  almost  exclusively  with  the  men  and  scarcely  at  all 
with  the  works. — The  truth  is  that  towards  1860,  the  necessity  of 
defending  his  own  originality  against  certain  writers  who  claimed 
to  be  his  disciples, — Edmond  Scherer,  Ernest  Renan,  and  Taine 
for  example, — forces  him  to  lay  stress  on  two  points  which  he 
declines  to  abandon. — He  establishes  victoriously  that  what  is 
interesting  in  a  literary  work  is  in  the  first  place  the  work  itself. 
— He  then  establishes  no  less  surely  that  no  general  considerations 
are  capable  of  explaining  what  is  individual  about  a  masterpiece ; — 
and  that  given  "race,"  "environment,"  and  "the  moment,"  which 


488    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

that  the  world  has  had  enough  of  "confessions"  and 
"  disclosures."  Nature  and  society,  art  and  life,  truth 
and  beauty  invite  the  poet,  the  novelist,  and  the  dramatist 
to  look  beyond  themselves,  to  open  their  eyes  on  the 
universe  around  them.  Everything  is  "material  for 
literature  "  with  the  single  exception  of  what  served  the 
Eomanticists  as  such.  And  while  Flaubert,  Feuillet, 
Dumas,  Augier,  or  Leconte  de  Lisle  as  the  result  of 
study  or  observation  are  arriving  at  this  conviction 
almost  unintentionally,  Taine  and  Eenan  appear  to 
strengthen  it,  to  lend  it  the  weight  of  their  authority 
and  to  establish  it  as  a  principle. 

A  writer  is  not  always  fully  alive  to  the  nature  of  his 

are  the  same  for  all, — the  great  problem  is  to  explain  how  it  is  that 
there  has  been  only  one  Tartufe  and  one  Pliedre ; — one  Voltaire 
and  one  Rousseau ; — one  Eugenie  Grandet  and  one  Valentine. — 
Having  made  this  demonstration,  however,  he  grows  indifferent  to 
his  own  principles ; — as  to  the  most  pronounced  of  his  former  tastes  ; 
— history  proper  attracts  him  more  and  more ; — he  takes  his  title  of 
"  Senator  of  the  Empire"  seriously; — and  scarcely  anything  remains 
of  the  author  of  Port-Royal  in  his  Etude  sur  Jomini,  for  example, 
or  in  his  Essai  sur  Proudhon. 

C.  The  Philosopher; — and  first  of  all  whether  this  be  not  a 
decidedly  ambitious  appellation  for  him ; — so  far  at  least  as  to 
have  a  "philosophy"  is  to  have  a  connected  system; — a  general 
view  of  things,  or  merely  a  "  doctrine  "  [Cf.  below  the  article  TAINE]  . 
— That  in  this  sense,  not  only  did  Sainte-Beuve  never  possess  a 
"philosophy"  ; — but  his  great  defect  as  a  critic  and  as  an  historian 
of  literature, — was  his  inability  to  rise  above  the  "monograph." — His 
theoretical  contradictions  and  his  naturally  versatile  humour. — But 
that  this  very  versatility  and  these  contradictions  imply  a  sort  of 
philosophy ; — the  principle  of  which  is  the  perfecting  of  his  taste  by 
the  variety  of  the  disciplines  to  which  he  subjects  it ; — and  this 
attitude  is  that  to  which  the  name  of  dilettantism  is  given. — Sainte- 
Beuve  was  the  dilettante  of  criticism ; — and  it  seems  to  have  been 
more  particularly  in  virtue  of  this  fact  that  he  exerted  an  influence  on 
his  contemporaries. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Sainte-Beuve's  works  comprise  : — (1)  his  Poems ; 


MODEBN   TIMES  489 

work,  or  to  the  real  influences  by  which  he  has  been 
formed.  Thus  Renan  would  never  admit,  perhaps  he 
never  suspected,  the  extent  to  which  he  was  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  Auguste  Comte ;  and  Taine,  who  gloried  on 
the  contrary  in  being  a  Positivist — though  a  Positivist 
modified  by  the  study  of  Stuart  Mill — was  more  than 
astonished,  was  positively  grieved  when  his  attention  was 
called  to  the  works  for  which  his  Essai  sur  Balzac,  1858, 
and  his  Histoire  de  la  Litterature  anglaise,  1863,  must  be 
held  responsible.  No  doubt  there  is  a  distinction  to  be 
drawn.  The  "  naturalism "  of  Taine,  as  also  that  of 
Flaubert,  was  a  broader  and  in  particular  a  more  intelli- 
gent conception  of  art  than  the  realism,  say,  of  a  Courbet 

Joseph  Delorme,  1829  ;  the  Consolations,  1830;  and  thePenseesd'aoiit, 
1837  ;— (2)  his  Novel :  Volupte,  1834 ;— and  (3)  his  Critical  Works  : 

Portraits  litteraires,  3  volumes ; 

Portraits  defemmes,  1  volume; 

Portraits  contemporains,  5  volumes ; 

Port-Royal,  5  volumes  in  8vo  or  7  volumes  in  8vo  ; 

Chateaubriand  et  son  groupe  litteraire,  2  volumes  ; 

Causeries  du  lundi,  15  volumes ; 

Nouveaux  lundis,  13  volumes. 

To  the  above  may  be  added :  his  Tableau  de  la  Poesie  francaise  au 
XVI"  siecle ; — his  Premiers  lundis,  three  volumes  issued  after  his 
death  and  containing  articles  he  had  not  collected  himself ; — his 
Etude  sur  Virgile ; — and  two  or  three  rather  insignificant  short  tales. 

Only  three  volumes  of  his  Correspondence  have  been  published  as 
yet,  and  scarcely  anything  of  his  famous  "  Notebooks." 

THIRD  PERIOD. 
Naturalism. 

1859-1875. 

I.— Alfred  de  Vigny  [Loches,  1797  ;  f  1863,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Journal  d'un  poete,  edited  by  M.  Louis  Ratis- 
bonne  ;  and  the  Notice  preceding  the  Journal,  Paris,  1867  ; — Sainte- 


490    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTOBY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

or  a  Champfleury ;  for  example  it  did  not  proscribe  the 
"representation"  either  of  beauty  or  of  the  past  [Cf. 
Salammbo,  Herodias,  la  Legende  de  saint  Julien] ,  in  the 
consciousness  that  to  have  done  so  would  have  been  to 
exclude  from  art  the  very  notion  of  art.  Again  it  was 
all  very  well  for  the  author  of  the  Histoire  des  langues 
semitiques,  1848,  and  of  the  celebrated  Essai  sur  les 
Religions  de  I'antiquite,  1853,  to  believe  and  to  declare 
that  "  M.  Comte,  not  being  a  philologist,  had  no  com- 
prehension of  the  sciences  of  humanity  "  [Cf.  I'Avenir 
de  la  science,  p.  148].  It  is  true  that  M.  Comte  was 
not  a  philologist,  and  his  style  was  bad,  but  Kenan's 
"  philology"  bore  a  closer  resemblance  than  he  imagined 

Beuve,  Portra/its  contemporains,  vol.  ii.,  1826,  1835  ;  and  Nouveaux 
lundis,  vol.  vi.,  1864  ; — Emile  Montegut,  Nos  Morts  contemporains, 
1867  ; — Theophile  Gautier,  Rapport  sur  les progres  de  la poesie,  1868  ; 
— Emile  Faguet,  XIX"  siecle,  Paris,  1887 ; — Maurice  Paleologue, 
Alfred  de  Vigny,  Paris,  1891 ; — F.  Brunetiere,  Essais  sur  la  litterature 
contemporaine,  1891  ;  and  Involution  de  la  Poesie  lyrique,  1893, 
vol.  ii. ; — Dorison,  Alfred  de  Vigny,  poete  philosophe,  1892. 

2.  THE  POETE. 

A.  The  years  of  Romanticism. — Vigny's  extraction  ; — his  educa- 
tion ; — and  his  military  vocation. — His  first  published  verse  :  Helena, 
1822,  and  Eloa,  1824 ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  Andre  Chenier's 
influence  on  Alfred  de  Vigny. — Character  of  his  early  verse,  and  how 
visibly  inspired  it  is  by  the  eighteenth  century  [Cf.  Montegut,  loc. 
cit.]  ; — but  in  particular  how  little  Eomantic  it  is. — The  novel  Cinq- 
Mars,  1826 ; — and  Mo'ise,  1826. — Vigny's  personal  relations  with  the 
Romanticists  ; — and  the  part  he  took  in  the  conflict  with  Classicism  ; 
— with  his  Othello,  1829 ; — his  drama  the  Marechale  d'Ancre,  1831 ; — 
and  his  "  symbolical "  novel  Stello,  1832. — Three  at  least  of  the  charac- 
teristics of  Romanticism  are  met  with  in  Chatterton,  1835 : — striving 
after  "  local  colour  "  ;  assertion  of  the  "  sovereignty  of  the  poet "  and 
that  of  the  "rights  of  the  individual." — Already,  however,  in  his 
Grandeur  et  Servitude  militaires,  published  in  1835, — Vigny  appears 
to  have  renounced  the  egoism  of  the  Romanticists ; — as  too  in  the 
portions  of  his  Journal  belonging  to  this  period ; — and  since  his 
attitude  in  this  matter  constitutes  the  principle  and  nature  of  his 


MODEBN   TIMES  491 

to  the  "  sociology "  of  the  founder  of  Positivism,  the 
difference  between  them  being  not  even  one  of  method, 
but  lying  in  the  particular  application  of  the  same 
general  method  to  matters  so  utterly  dissimilar  as,  for 
instance,  the  study  of  the  functions  of  the  liver  and  that 
of  the  composition  of  the  Bhagavata  Pourana.  This 
will  be  apparent  if,  inserting  a  middle  term  between 
two  extremes,  the  work  of  Emile  Littre  be  interposed 
between  that  of  Taine  and  that  of  Kenan  :  on  the  one 
hand  his  treatise  on  the  philosophy  of  Auguste  Comte, 
and  on  the  other  his  writings  on  the  history  of  the 
French  language.  It  will  then  be  plain,  that  whatever 
differences  there  be  between  the  respective  talents  of 

originality,— the  question  of  his  exact  rank  among  the  Romanticists 
becomes  futile. 

B.  The  philosopher; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  Pessimism  in 
general ; — and  that  it  is  not  the  doctrine  of  death  or  inertia  it  has 
been  asserted  to  be  ; — but,  on  the  contrary,  a  source  of  fruitful  action  ; 
— and  in  any  case  the  principle  of  all  moral  elevation : — Vigny's 
Pessimism ; — and  that  it  is  to  rob  him  of  what  is  best  in  him, — to 
look  for  its  cause  in  the  narrowness  of  his  domestic  life  ; — or  in  the 
humiliations  to  which  his  pride  was  subjected  ; — or,  as  some  "  clever  " 
persons  have  done,  in  the  physiological  presentiment  of  the  disease  of 
which  he  was  to  die  [cancer  of  the  stomach] . — Vigny's  Pessimism  is 
a  philosophic  doctrine ; — based  on  the  reasoned  conviction  of  the 
hostile  attitude  of  nature  towards  man  [Cf.  the  Maison  du  Berger] ; 
— on  the  isolation  that  is  the  consequence  of  the  possession  of 
intelligence  [Cf.  Motise]  ; — on  the  corruption  of  human  nature  [Cf. 
la  Colere  de  Samson]  ; — and  on  the  indifference  of  the  Gods  to  our 
sufferings  [Cf.  le  Christ  au  Mont  des  Oliviers] . — That  in  all  these 
respects  Vigny's  Pessimism  is  akin  to  that  of  Pascal ; — and  that 
proof  of  this  is  furnished  by  the  consequences  that  he  deduces  from 
his  Pessimism ; — for  the  horror  inspired  him  by  the  human  state 
changes  into  pity  for  his  fellow  men  [Cf.  his  Journal  from  1835 
onward]  ; — this  pity  into  love  [Cf.  la  Flute]  ; — this  love  into  the 
resolution  to  strive  to  vanquish  nature  [Cf.  la  Sauvage]  ;— and 
finally  this  resolution  terminates  in  a  cry  of  hope  [Cf.  la  Bouteille 
a  la  mer] . — Haughty  but  real  nobleness  of  this  Pessimism ; — and 


492    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

Little,  Taine,  and  Renan, — and  it  may  be  maintained 
that  the  excellent  Littre  was  entirely  without  talent, — 
the  three  of  them  together  constituted  naturalistic 
criticism,  or  rather,  and  as  it  may  better  be  put,  their 
criticism  gave  "  Naturalism  "  that  doctrinal  adhesion,  con- 
sistency and  solidity  which  Romanticism  had  always 
lacked. 

It  is  this  circumstance  that  makes  it  easy  to-day  to 
distinguish  the  true  characteristics  of  Naturalism,  and  to 
perceive  clearly  that  works  so  different  in  appearance  as 
the  Poemes  antiques,  1852,  the  Demi-Monde,  1855,  and 
Madame  Bovary,  1857,  have  nevertheless,  in  the  first 
place,  this  in  common,  that  they  are  what  we  call 

that  to  appreciate  its, worth, — it  is  only  necessary  to  compare  it  with 
the  realistic  Optimism  of  Hugo ;— the  childish  Optimism  of  Musset ; — 
and  the  vulgar  Optimism  of  the  author  of  the  Dieu  des  bonnes  gens. 

C.  The  influence  of  Alfred  de  Vigny  ; — and  that  it  is  in  opposition 
on  almost  every  point  with  the  influence  of  Romanticism. — Vigny 
freed  the  poet  from  the  slavish  cult  of  his  personality ; — and  from 
the  superstitious  worship  of  nature. — For  the  lyric  "themes"  of 
Romanticism  ; — which  could  not  be  other  than  general  or  indetermi- 
nate themes, — and  like  those  of  pianists  a  pretext  for  the  exercise  of 
virtuosity, — he  substituted  precise  "  ideas  "  ; — of  which  his  fictions 
[la  Mort  du  Loup  ;  la  Maison  du  Berger  ;  la  Bouteille  a  la  mer]  are 
merely  the  envelope  ; — and  for  this  reason  he  was  a  true  symbolist ; — 
and  a  great  poet. — Finally  he  wrote  "  poems  "  ;— which  have  a  begin- 
ning, a  middle  and  an  end ; — the  development  of  which  is  proportioned 
to  the  human  importance  of  the  idea  they  express  ; — and  thus  is  not 
solely  measured  by  the  caprice  of  the  virtuoso  ; — or  the  "  long-winded- 
ness  "  of  the  poet. — For  all  these  reasons  it  cannot  be  too  much 
regretted, — that  Vigny  too  often  shows  himself  deficient  in  certain 
qualities  that  go  to  make  the  artist  or  even  the  writer. — Still  he  is 
nevertheless  a  very  great  poet ; — and  the  author  of  some  hundreds  of 
verses ; — if  there  be  any  superior  to  which  in  French,  they  are  few  in 
number. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — The  Works  of  Alfred  de  Vigny  comprise : 
(1)  His   Poetry.     He   has   himself  sacrificed  some  of  his  earliest 
pieces.     What  remains  forms  two  volumes  :  the  Poesies,  divided  into 


MODEEN   TIMES  493 

"  impersonal "  works.  It  is  important  to  state  exactly 
what  is  meant  by  this  epithet.  It  does  not  convey  that 
a  Flaubert,  a  Dumas,  or  a  Leconte  de  Lisle  are  absent  or 
severed  from  their  work  to  such  a  degree  that  it  is 
impossible  to  gather  from  their  writings  their  conceptions 
of  art,  nature,  and  man.  What  is  meant  is  that  the 
object  of  their  observation,  the  matter  of  their  literature, 
is  not  they  themselves  ;  that  the  man  in  them  is  subordi- 
nate to  the  artist ;  and  more  especially  that  they  made  their 
originality  consist  in  expressing,  not  things  appertaining 
to  themselves,  but  things  which  before  them  had  passed 
unperceived.  The  radii  of  a  circle  were  equal  before  the 
figure  had  been  drawn,  and  it  was  not  Galileo  who  set 

three  books,  the  Livre  mystique,  the  Livre  antique,  and  the  Livre 
moderne,  1822-1826 ; — and  the  Destinees,  1863  [the  Destinees  were 
first  collected  and  published  under  this  title  in  1863,  but  the  majority 
of  the  poems  which  compose  the  volume  were  written  during  the 
years  1843,  1844,  1845  and  1854,  and  appeared  at  these  dates  in  the 
Bevue  des  Deux  Mondes] . 

(2)  His  Plays,  including  his  translation  [in  verse]  of  the  Merchant 
of  Venice,  1828 ;  — his  adaptation  [hi  verse]   of  Othello,  1829  ; — the 
Marechal  d'Ancre,  1831 ; — Quitte  pour  la  peur,  1833  ; — Chatterton, 
1835. 

(3)  His  Novels:    Cinq-Mars,   1826;— Stello,    1832;—  Grandeur  et 
servitude  militaires,  1835. 

(4)  His  Journal,  published  hi  1867  by  M.  Louis  Ratisbonne,  his 
literary   executor ;    and   some  Letters    [Cf.   Sainte-Beuve,   Portraits 
contemporains] ,  the  most  considerable  series  of  which  appeared  in 
the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  for  January,  1897. 

There  are  two  editions  of  his  works,  one  in  eight  volumes  in  8vo, 
Paris,  1868-1870,  Michel  Levy ;  and  the  other  hi  six  vols.  hi  12mo, 
Paris,  1883-1885,  A.  Lemerre. 

II.— Pierre-Jules-Theophile  Gautier  [Tarbes,  1811 ;  f  1872, 
Paris]. 

1.  THE  SOUBCBS. — Vte  de  Spoelberch  de  Lovenjoul,  Histoire  det 
ceuvres  de  Theophile  Gautier,  Paris,  1887. 

Sainte-Beuve,  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  vi.,  1863 ; — Entile  Montegut, 


494    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

the  earth  moving  around  the  sun  !  Similarly  French  pro- 
vincial life  existed  before  Madame  Bovary,  and  the  author 
of  the  Poemes  antiques  invented  neither  the  Gods  of  India 
nor  those  of  Greece,  neither  their  legend  nor  even  their 
attributes.  The  unique  ambition  of  these  writers  was  to 
present  the  object  they  were  imitating  "  under  its  eternal 
aspect,"  and  to  do  so  they  concerned  themselves  solely 
with  what  they  believed  to  be  its  permanent  charac- 
teristics. 

"Art,"  wrote  Flaubert,  "consists  in  representation, 
and  we  ought  to  confine  ourselves  to  representing  "  ;  and 
in  another  passage  of  his  Correspondance  :  "  Art  should 
have  nothing  in  common  with  the  artist."  He  declares, 

Nos  morts  contemporains,  vol.  ii.,  1865  ; — Charles  Baudelaire,  I' Art 
romantique,  1868 ; — Emile  Bergerat,  Theophile  Gautier,  Entretiens 
et  Souvenirs,  Paris,  1877  ; — Emile  Zola,  Documents  litteraires,  Paris, 
1881 ; — Maxime  du  Camp,  Souvenirs  litteraires,  Paris,  1882-1884  ; 
and  Theophile  Gautier,  in  the  "  Grands  Ecrivains  francais  "  series, 
Paris,  1890  ;— Emile  Faguet,  Etudes  sur  le  XIXe  siecle,  1887,  Paris ; 
— F.  Brunetiere,  Questions  de  critique,  1887  ; — and  I' 'Evolution  de  la 
Poesie  lyrique,  vol.  ii.,  1893  ; — Maurice  Spronck,  les  Artistes  litte- 
raires, Paris,  1889. 

2.  THE  ARTIST. — The  critics  were  long  unjust  to  Theophile 
Gautier ; — reasons  for  this  injustice ; — the  extent  and  diversity  of 
his  work ; — its  negligent  or  improvised  air ; — and  the  scrupulous- 
ness with  which  he  confined  himself  to  his  "trade"  of  poet  and 
story  writer. — Pedantic  indignation  of  Edmond  Scherer  in  this 
connection ; — and  the  reproach  he  addressed  Gautier  that  "  he  was 
without  ideas." — It  is  the  truth  that  Gautier  was  without  political 
or  theological  ideas ; — but  he  had  ideas  about  his  art,  or  about 
art  in  general ; — very  clear  and  very  fruitful  ideas ; — which  he 
has  expressed  in  very  happy  terms  [Cf.  his  Notices  on  Balzac  and 
Baudelaire,  his  Rapport  sur  lapoesie,  &c.] . — It  is  for  this  reason  that 
his  role,  the  importance  of  which  it  was  possible  to  overlook  thirty  or 
forty  years  ago, — has  been  seen  to  have  been  considerable, — in  pro- 
portion as  the  relations  between  and  the  common  or  contradictory 
elements  in  Romanticism  and  Naturalism  have  been  more  clearly 
perceived. 


MODERN   TIMES  495 

in  other  words,  that  nature  and  history  lying  before  us 
as  models,  and  our  momentary  view  of  them  being  power- 
less to  prevent  them  being  what  they  are,  what  they  were 
before  our  time,  and  what  they  will  be  after  we  have 
passed  away,  we  ought  to  employ  the  resources  of  art  to 
render  the  models  with  truth  and  fidelity.  The  imitation, 
or,  to  use  a  stronger  term,  the  reproduction  of  nature, 
ought  to  be  the  object  of  art ;  scrupulous  following  of  the 
model  its  method ;  while  its  triumph  will  be  the  annihila- 
tion of  the  personality  of  the  artist  in  virtue  of  the  truth 
of  his  creation.  Does  one  think  of  Shakespeare  when 
Othello  kills  Desdemona,  or  are  readers  of  the  Odyssey 
concerned  with  knowing  what  manner  of  man  was 

Thus  it  is  in  his  work  [Cf.  the  Grotesques  and  Capitaine  Fracasse] 
that  the  affinities  between  Bomanticism  and  the  school,  not  of 
Ronsard, — as  Sainte-Beuve  erroneously  taught, — but  of  the  Scarrons 
and  the  Saint-Amants,- — come  into  view  and  assert  themselves 
openly ; — and  in  this  respect  an  entire  portion  of  his  work  is  nothing 
more  than  an  "illustration"  or  a  "demonstration"  of  the  Preface 
to  Hugo's  Cromwell. — The  great  ambition  of  Romanticism  was  to 
combine  the  high-flown  "  sublirneness "  of  the  Cid ; — with  the 
extravagant  comedy  of  Dom  Japliet  d'Armenie. — It  was  Theophile 
Gautier,  too,  who  formulated  the  doctrine  of  "  art  for  art "  ; — and 
though  the  doctrine  is  open  to  discussion ; — its  first  effects  were 
nevertheless  excellent. — The  doctrine  of  art  for  art  put  an  end 
to  everlasting  self-contemplation  on  the  part  of  the  poet ; — it  again 
confronted  him  with  an  "  exterior  world,"  the  significance  of  which 
had  been  disfigured  by  Romanticism ; — and  it  reawakened  in  him 
the  sentiment  of  the  power  of  style. — That  in  this  respect,  and 
taking  into  account  the  difference  between  the  periods, — there  are 
similarities  between  the  role  of  the  author  of  Emaux  et  Carnees  and 
that  of  Malherbe  and  Boileau ; — and  that  he  was  indeed  the  legislator 
of  a  new  Parnassus. — Finally  it  was  Theophile  Gautier,  and  not 
Hugo  ; — or  any  other  of  the  Romanticists ; — who  effected  in  the  art 
of  description  [Cf.  Espatia,  or,  in  prose,  the  Roman  de  la  momie]  — 
the  "  picturesque  "  revolution  which  Sainte-Beuve  announced,  or  of 
which  he  had  a  presentiment,  but  which  he  did  not  realise. — "  See- 
ing "  is  an  art ; — and  independently  of  the  emotion  they  procure  us, 


496    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE 

Homer  ?  But  these  theories,  though  expressed  in  more 
pretentious  terms, — a  fashion  set  by  Romanticism,— are 
easily  recognisable  as  among  those  which  formerly  were 
dear  to  the  most  illustrious  Classicists  ;  and  the  truth  is 
that  as  regards  the  simplicity  of  its  scheme  and  its  force 
of  expression  there  is  no  novel  more  "classic"  than 
Madame  Bovary.  I  am  not  aware  that  finer — and  again 
I  mean  more  "classic" — verses  exist  than  those  of 
Leconte  de  Lisle,  and  when  I  search  for  a  work  with 
which  to  compare  the  Demi-Monde,  after  reviewing  the 
literature  of  the  century  I  pass  it  by,  and  do  not  find 
what  I  want  until  I  come  to  the  period  of  the  Barbier  de 
Seville  or  of  Turcaret. 


there  exists  in  things, — and  especially  in  human  things, — qualities 
with  which  others,  prior  to  ourselves,  have  endowed  them. — It  is 
these  qualities  that  we  ought  to  try  to  see  in  them  ; — and  to  present 
"  under  their  eternal  aspect  "  ; — without  regard  to  ourselves  or  to  our 
pleasure. 

That  Theophile  Gautier  was  more  than  once  successful  in  this 
endeavour ; — and,  in  this  connection,  that  it  is  strange  that  such 
stories  as  the  Roi  Candaule,  or  Arria  Marcella,  or  the  Roman  de  la 
momie  are  not  held  in  at  least  equal  esteem  to  Carmen  or  Colomba. — 
Theophile  Gautier's  travels  ; — and  that  if  the  date  of  the  first  of  them 
(1839,  1840)  be  kept  in  view, — it  would  seem  that  they  revealed  to 
him  the  nature  of  his  talent. — His  three  volumes  of  poetry  :  Albertus, 
— Espaifa, — Emaux  et  Camees  ; — and  that  it  is  in  them  that  the 
"  lack  of  ideas  "  with  which  he  has  been  reproached  is  particularly 
visible. — It  will  be  noted  that  the  case  of  Malherbe  is  parallel, — for 
while  Malherbe,  like  Gautier,  is  the  author  of  a  certain  number  of 
very  beautiful  verses  ; — his  value  as  a  "  critic  "  and  a  grammarian, — 
and  as  a  "  versifier," — much  surpasses  his  value  as  a  writer. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — There  is  no  edition  of  the  Complete  Works  of 
Gautier,  and  doubtless  there  never  will  be,  for  it  would  run  to  from 
sixty  to  eighty  volumes.  His  works  comprise  : 

(1)  His  Poetry  :  Poesies,  1830 ;— Albertus,  1833  ;— the  Comedie  de 
la  mort,  1838. — These  three  volumes,  with  Espaiia  adjoined,  were 
published  in  1845  under  the  title  Poesies  completes. — There  remains 
for  mention  Emaux  et  Camees,  1852  ; 


MODERN   TIMES  497 

To  say  nothing,  however,  of  the  wealth  and  variety  of 
meaning  which  has  come  to  be  expressed  by  the  very 
word  "  nature  "  in  the  course  of  two  hundred  years,  there 
is  a  difference  between  the  new  and  the  classic  conception 
of  art,  and  it  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  standard  by  which 
the  truth  of  artistic  representations  is  judged  is  hence- 
forth neither  "  common  sense  "  nor  the  pronouncements  of 
"  society  "  nor  considerations  of  "  social  interest  "  ;  this 
function  is  now  filled  by  science,  and  the  circumstance  is 
a  second  characteristic  of  the  new  Naturalism.  Not  that 
which  seems  to  be,  but  that  which  is,  constitutes  truth  ; 
and  under  certain  rigorously  defined  conditions  the  indi- 
vidual may  be  right  and  the  universe  wrong.  What  is 

(2)  His  Fiction,  the  principal  works  being :    Les  Jeunes  France, 
romans  goguenards,  1833  ; — Mademoiselle  de  Maupin,  1835  ; — For- 
tunio,  1837  [published  under  the  title  of  VEldorado] ; — his  Nouvelles 
1845  ; — his  Romans  et  Contes,  1857  ; — the  Roman  de  la  momie,  1858  ; 
— and  the  Capitaine  Fracasse,  1863  ; 

(3)  His  accounts  of  his  travels, — Tra  los  monies  [His  journey  to 
Spain] ,    1843 ; — Constantinople,  1853  ; — Italia  ; — Voyage  en  Russie, 
1867; 

(3)  His  Critical  Works  :  A.  Literary  Criticism,  the  principal  being  : 
les  Grotesques,  1853  ; — his  Rap2)ort  sur  les  progres  de  la  poesie,  1868 ; 
— the  collection  of  anecdotic  and  biographical  articles  entitled  :  His- 
toire  du  romantisme,  1874 ;  and  various  Notices,  of  which  the  most 
interesting  are  the  Notice  sur  H  de  Balzac  and  the  Notice  sur  Charles 
Baudelaire  ; — B.  Dramatic  criticism,  only  a  portion  of  which  has  been 
published  under  the  title  Histoire  de  Vart  dramatique  depuis  vingt- 
cinq  ans,  6  vols.,  1858-1859,  Paris ; — C.  His  Art  criticism. 

He  has  also  left  some  dramatic  writings,  more  especially  ballet 
librettos,  and  a  mass  of  occasional  writings. 

III.— Emile  Augier  [Valence,  1820 ;  f  1889,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Emile  Montegut,  Dramaturges  et  romanciers, 
1878 ; — Emile  .Zola,  Nos  auteurs  dramatiques,  1881 ; — Rene  Doumic, 
Portraits  d'ecrivains,  Paris,  1892; — H.  Parigot,  le  Theatre  d'hier, 
Paris,  1893 ; — Maurice  Spronck,  Emile  Augier,  in  the  Revue  des 
Deux  Mondes,  November  15,  1895. 

33 


498    MANUAL    OP   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

meant  here?  and  are  Flaubert's  novels,  Leconte  de 
Lisle's  poetry,  or  Alexandre  Dumas'  plays  "  scientific 
work  "  ?  That  they  are  such  work  is  at  any  rate  the 
belief  of  the  authors.  They  expressly  state  so.  "Art 
and  science,  wrote  Leconte  de  Lisle,  long  separated  in 
consequence  of  the  divergent  efforts  of  the  intelligence, 
should  tend  henceforth  towards  a  close  union  or  even 
absolute  identification.  The  one  has  been  the  initial 
revelation  of  the  ideal  contained  in  exterior  nature ;  the 
other  its  luminous  and  reasoned  explanation.  But  art 
has  lost  this  primitive  spontaneity,  and  it  belongs  to 
science  to  remind  it  of  its  forgotten  traditions,  which  it 
will  revive  in  the  forms  that  are  proper  to  it  "  [Cf. 

The  student  may  further  consult  in  connection  with  Augier,  and 
the  other  dramatic  authors  of  this  period,  the  dramatic  criticisms  of 
Theophile  Gautier  in  the  Moniteur,  of  Jules  Janin  in  the  Journal  des 
Debats,  and  of  Francisque  Sarcey  in  the  Temps.  Also  those  of  M. 
Jules  Lemaitre,  which  have  been  issued  in  volume  form  under  the 
title  Impressions  de  theatre. 

2.  THE  DRAMATIST. — His  first  efforts. — He  is  called  the  "lieu- 
tenant "  of  Frangois  Ponsard  and  the  "  School  of  good  sense." — That 
if  the  author  of  La  Cigue,  1844,  of  VAventuriere,  1848,  and  of 
Gabrielle,  1849,  was  pleased  to  reconcile  himself  with  Eomanticism 
towards  the  close  of  his  career, — it  is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  all  his 
early  pieces  were  directed  against  the  Romanticists  ; — and  Diane  in 
particular  is  merely  Marion  Delorme  rewritten  by  a  "man  of  good 
sense ;  " — just  as  Gabrielle  merely  ridicules  from  a  bourgeois  point  of 
view  the  heroines  of  George  Sand. — It  was  as  an  adversary  of 
Eomanticism  that  Augier  was  first  hailed  by  his  admirers ; — and  if 
his  collaboration  with  Jules  Sandeau ; — the  outcome  of  which  was  the 
Chasse  au  Boman,  1851 ;  the  Pierre  de  touche,  1854  ;  and  the 
Gendre  de  M.  Poirier ; — seemed  for  a  moment  to  indicate  that  he 
was  reconciled  with  the  Romanticists, — it  was  not  long  before  he 
ceased  to  find  himself  at  home  in  comedy  of  this  sentimental  and 
average  order. — And  finally  it  was  by  renouncing  Romanticism  and 
declaiming  against  it, — hi  the  Mariage  d'Olympe,  1855,  les  Lionnes 
pauvres,  1858,  and  la  Jeunesse,  1858 ;  —  that  he  achieved  his 
originality. 


MODEEN   TIMES  499 

Poemes  antiques,  1852,  preface  to  the  first  edition].  And 
in  truth  if  there  exist  in  French  literature  poetry  that 
caa be  called  "scientific,"  is  it  not  that  of  Leconte  de 
Lisle?  Again,  who  has  had  a  clearer  vision  of  the 
poetry  of  science  than  the  author  of  the  Histoire  de 
la  Litterature  anglaise  ?  Taine  has  boldly  stated  his 
views :  "  Two  ways  are  open  to  man  to  arrive  at  a 
knowledge  of  the  permanent  and  generating  causes ; 
the  first  is  offered  by  science,  by  which  he  determines 
these  causes  and  these  fundamental  laws,  and  expresses 
them  in  exact  formulae  and  abstract  terms  ;  the  second  is 
offered  by  art,  by  which  he  manifests  these  causes  in 
perceptible  fashion,  appealing  not  only  to  the  reason,  but 

It  consists  essentially  in  the  rather  brutal  vigour  with  which  he 
championed  certain  ideas, — whose  defenders  as  a  rule  are  wont  to 
display  some  hesitation  or  timidity, — the  ideas  in  question  being  in 
point  of  fact  as  commonplace  as  they  are  unexceptionable ; — Augier, 
for  instance,  clearly  demonstrated  that  "  a  good  name  is  better  than 
riches," — and  that  a  courtesan  does  not  recover  her  innocence  because 
she  is  stirred  by  a  genuine  passion. — He  has  also  proved  that  what 
are  called  business  men  are  often  enough  lacking  in  scruples  [Cf.  les 
Effrontes]  ; — and  that  designing  persons  sometimes  come  to  a  bad 
end  [Cf .  la  Contagion] ; — and  all  this,  if  it  was  not  anti-romanticism, 
— was  something  else  than  Romanticism. — Secondly,  with  a  view 
to  introducing  Realism  into  his  work, — he  devised  contemporary 
plots  ; — the  personages  of  which  were  imitated  from  those  of 
Balzac  [Cf .  les  Effrontes,  le  Fils  de  Giboyer,  Maitre  Guerin] , — or 
of  Eugene  Sue  [Cf .  Lions  et  Benards] ; — among  them  being  two  or 
three  whose  characterisation  is  fairly  vigorous. — Moreover,  after 
Balzac  and  in  imitation  of  him,  he  gave  a  novel  importance  to  the 
money  question, — making  the  play  turn  on  it, — instead  of  regarding 
it,  as  Scribe  regarded  it,  as  a  mere  subsidiary  dramatic  expedient. — 
To  complete  the  resemblance,  he  in  general  turned  to  account  in  his 
plays  the  interests  of  every-day  life ; — industrial  enterprise  [Cf.  les 
Effrontes] ,  scientific  discoveries  or  inventions  [Cf .  Un  beau  mariage ; 
Maitre  Guerin] ,  political  events  [Cf.  le  Fils  de  Giboyer] . — Finally, 
and  here  he  parts  company  with  Balzac, — he  adopted  the  attitude  of 
"  a  bourgeois  of  1789  "  ; — the  enemy  of  vain  distinctions  ; — exclusively 


500    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH    LITERATURE 

to  the  heart  and  the  senses  of  the  most  ordinary  man  " 
[Cf.  Philosophic  de  I' Art,  vol.  i.,  p.  53].  It  may  be,  how- 
ever, that  these  arguments  are  specious  rather  than  solid, 
and  were  there  but  a  single  one  to  adduce,  an  example  at 
least  would  be  desirable  of  art  having  "anticipated" 
science.  Still  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  never  occurred 
to  the  Classicists  to  unite,  solidarise  or  identify  science 
and  art  in  this  way,  if  indeed  it  ought  not  to  be  said 
that  they  constantly  insisted  on  their  opposition  to  one 
another;  and  the  observation  is  of  interest  for  its  own 
sake,  and  further  because  it  leads  up  to  another  and  a 
more  profound  difference,  and  one  not  less  characteristic 
of  "  Naturalism." 


respecting  "  personal  merit  "  ; — and  anti-clerical  after  the  manner  of 
Beranger  [Cf.  le  Fils  de  Giboyer,  Lions  et  Benards] ; — and  this 
attitude  largely  contributed  to  his  success. — It  is  doubtless  this 
attitude  too  that  his  admirers  propose  to  praise  when  they  declare 
him  to  belong  to  "  the  family  of  Moliere." 

His  dramatic  merit  proper,  however,  is  not  much  superior  to 
that  of  Eugene  Scribe ; — while  too  much  has  been  made  of  his  merit 
as  a  writer; — of  his  "sturdy  frankness''  and  his  "virile  correc- 
tion."— His  verse  is  curiously  prosaic,  except  *  perhaps  in  certain 
passages  of  Philiberte  or  of  the  Aventuriere ; — and  his  prose  is 
in  general  monotonous; — though  natural  enough. —  His  dramatic 
expedients  are  often  very  artificial ; —  and  his  plots  decidedly 
fanciful  [Cf.  the  Gendre  de  M.  Poiricr,  Mariage  d'Olympe,  Un 
beau  mariage,  Maitre  Guerin,  les  Fourchambault] . —  It  does  not 
appear,  moreover,  that  he  even  suspected  the  existence  of  the  great 
problems  of  life  ; — and  thought  is  absent  from  his  work ; — which  is 
that,  however,  of  a  highly  estimable  man  ; — whose  literary  ambitions 
did  not  outstrip  his  capacity ; — and  who  cannot  be  better  charac- 
terised,— in  respect  both  to  his  shortcomings  and  his  qualities, — than 
by  comparing  him  with  the  author  of  Turcaret  and  Gil  Bias. 

2.  THE  WORKS. — Apart  from  his  plays  Emile  Augier's  works  are 
restricted  to  two  volumes  of  poetry :  Poesies  completes  d'Emile 
Augier,  Paris,  1852,  Levy ; — and  the  Parietaires,  Paris,  1855,  Levy  ; 
— and  to  some  brochures  of  slight  interest. 

His  plays  comprise  twenty-nine  pieces,  two  of  which,  for  unknown 


MODERN   TIMES  501 

For  a  third  characteristic  of  contemporary  Naturalism 
is  that  to  which  it  has  itself  given  the  name  of  "  impas- 
sibility," a  term  that  must  be  held  to  signify  not  want  of 
sensibility,  but  the  most  complete  indifference  to  what- 
ever is  not  art  or  science.  Is  the  man  of  science  in  his 
laboratory  moved  to  indignation  by  the  poisons  he 
manipulates  ;  and  what  economic  or  moral  value  does 
he  set  on  the  animals  he  dissects  ?  A  fact  in  his  eyes 
is  a  fact  and  nothing  more :  he  notes  it,  but  does  not 
pass  judgment  on  it.  The  attitude  of  the  artist  is 
identical.  And  it  is  for  this  reason  that  if  Dumas 
fits,  in  whom  there  are  traces  of  the  Komanticism  of  his 
father,  has  an  opinion  about  Suzanne  d'Ange  [Cf.  the 

reasons,  he  eliminated  from  the  complete  edition  of  his  dramatic 
works  :  the  Chasse  au  Roman,  1851 ; — and  the  Meprises  de  V amour, 
1852. 

Several  of  his  plays  were  written  in  collaboration  with  other 
authors  :  with  Musset,  I'Habit  vert,  1849  ; — with  Jules  Sandeau,  la 
Pierre  de  touclie,  1853 ;  the  Gendre  de  M.  Poirier,  1854 ; — with 
Edouard  Foussier,  Ceinture  doree,  1855 ;  the  Lionnes  pauvres,  1858 ; 
— with  Eugene  Labiche,  le  Prix  Martin,  1876. 

The  plays  of  which  he  is  the  sole  author  are  :  in  verse,  la  Cigue, 
1844 ;  Un  homme  de  bien,  1845 ;  VAventuriere,  1848 ;  Gabrielle, 
1849 ;  Saplio  [an  opera,  music  by  Gounod] ,  1851 ;  the  Joueur  de 
-Hide,  1851 ;  Diane,  1852  ;  Philiberte,  1853 ;  la  Jeunesse,  1858 ;  Paul 
Forestier,  1868  ;  and  in  prose  ;  the  Manage  dSOlympe,  1855  ; 
Un  beau  manage,  1859 ;  les  Effrontes,  1861 ;  le  Fils  de  Giboyer,  1862 ; 
Maitre  Guerin,  1864;  la  Contagion,  1866;  le  Post-Scriptum,  1869; 
Lions  et  Renards,  1869 ;  Jean  de  Thommeraij  [founded  on  a  story 
by  Jules  Sandeau],  1873;  Madame  Caverlet,  1876;  and  les  Four- 
chambault,  1878. 

The  last  complete  edition  of  his  dramatic  works  [revised  and 
corrected,  according  to  the  old-established  practice]  is  that  of  1889, 
in  seven  volumes,  Paris,  Calmann  Levy. 

IV.— Octave  Feuillet  [Saint-L6,  1821 ;  |  1890,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Mine  Octave  Feuillet,  Quelques  annees  de  ma 
vie,  1894,  Paris ;  Souvenirs  et  Correspondences,  1896,  Paris  ? — Eruile 


502    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

Demi-Monde],  Flaubert  has  none  about  Enirna  Bovary, 
or  about  Salammbo,  or  about  Frederic  Moreau  [Cf. 
V Education  sentimentale],  refuses  to  have  one,  and  loses 
patience  when  his  opinion  is  asked.  "As  to  giving  my 
opinion  about  the  personages  in  my  novels,  he  wrote  to 
George  Sand,  no,  no,  a  thousand  times  no !  I  do  not 
admit  my  right  to  an  opinion.  If  the  reader  does  not 
draw  from  the  book  the  moral  that  ought  to  be  found  in 
it,  either  the  reader  is  a  blockhead,  or  the  book  is  at  fault 
as  regards  exactness  "  [Cf.  Correspondance,  vol.  iii.] .  The 
author  of  the  Poemes  antiques  was  of  the  same  way  of 
thinking.  "  The  poet,  in  his  estimation,  should  look  on 
human  things  as  a  God  might  look  on  them  from  the 
heights  of  Olympus,  should  reflect  them  unconcernedly 

Montegut,  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  December,  1858,  November, 
1862,  January,  1868; — Sainte-Beuve,  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  v.,  1863; 
— Jules  Lemaitre,  Les  contemporains,  3rd  series,  1887,  Paris ; — Ch. 
Le  Goffic,  Les  romanciers  d'aujourd'hui,  Paris,  1890 ; — F.  Brunetiere, 
Essais  sur  la  litterature  contemporaine,  Paris,  1891 ; — Rene  Doumic, 
Portraits  d'ecrivains,  Paris,  1892. 

2.  THE  NOVELIST. — It  is  as  a  Romanticist  that  he  begins  his 
career — and  as  a  dramatist ; — writing  in  collaboration  with  Bocage  : 
— Un  bourgeois  de  Rome,  1845,  and  la  Vieillesse  de  Richelieu,  1848. 
— His  first  novel,  Bellali,  1850 ; — and  its  resemblance  to  Balzac's 
C ho  nans  on  the  one  hand ; — and  on  the  other  to  the  novels  of 
Jules  Sandeau. — The  Scenes  et  Proverbs,  1851 ; — Scenes  et  Comedies, 
1855 ; — and  that  the  author  of  these  works  has  been  not  inaptly  de- 
scribed as  a  "family  Musset." — His  hesitations  between  budding 
Naturalism  [Cf.  le  Village,  1852] , — and  expiring  Romanticism  [Cf. 
Redemption,  1849,  and  Dalila,  1853]  ; — and  how  he  tries  to  conciliate 
the  one  with  the  other  by  writing  romantic  (not  "  Romantic  ")  novels 
[Cf.  La  Petite  Comtesse,  1856,  and  the  Roman  d'un  jeune  homme 
pauvre,  1858] . 

His  chief  works. — Histoire  de  Sibylle,  1862, — George  Sand's  re- 
joinder :  Mademoiselle  de  la  Quintinie  ; — M.  de  Cantors,  1867  ;— Julia 
de  Trecceur,  1872 ; — Le  journal  d'unefemme,  1878 ; — La  Morte,  1886 ; 
— Honneur  d1 artiste,  1890. — Are  Feuillet's  novels  "romantic" 
novels  ? — and  that  the  epithet  romantic  is  synonymous  with 


MODEEN   TIMES  503 

in  his  fixed  pupils,  and  maintaining  absolute  indifference, 
should  endow  them  with  form,  that  higher  kind  of  life  " 
[Cf.  Th.  G-autier,  Rapport,  &c.] .  Whether  Leconte  de 
Lisle  always  realised  his  ideal  is  another  question,  but  he 
strove  to  attain  to  it,  and  his  ideal  in  reality  is  that  of 
"  art  for  art."  The  merit  of  the  artist  is  to  rise  superior, 
as  an  artist,  to  the  agitations  or  occupations  of  his  fellow 
men;  and  while,  as  a  man,  he  is  constrained  to  live  the 
life  of  other  men,  he  is  an  artist  and  a  "naturalist"  in 
proportion  only  as  he  does  not  participate  in  this  life. 
The  success  and  the  vogue  of  these  ideas  was  largely 
due  to  the  fact  that,  by  a  consequence  whose  close 
connection  with  them  will  doubtless  be  perceived,  they 
reawakened  in  the  writer  a  sense  of  the  difficulties  of 

strange  incidents  ; — arbitrary  combinations ; — systematic  idealisation 
of  the  characters ; — and  excessive  sentimentalism ; — it  is  not  applic- 
able to  Feuillet's  novels ; — which,  however,  are  "  aristocratic  "  or 
"society"  novels; — because  the  author  himself  was  a  member  of 
"  society "  ; — a  sphere  of  existence  in  which  the  development  of 
passion  is  not  interfered  with  by  the  mean  realities  of  life ; — those 
who  belong  to  it  not  being  prevented,  by  the  necessity  of  earning  their 
living,  from  keeping  a  rendezvous ; — and  not  being  the  slaves  of  the 
exigencies  of  material  existence  [Cf.  in  this  respect,  the  princes  and 
princesses  of  classic  tragedy] . — His  novels  in  the  second  place  are 
idealistic  novels ; — because  the  duties  of  ordinary  life  are  suppressed 
in  them ; — because  they  owe  their  dramaticness  in  general  to  the 
conflict  between  "passion"  and  "honour"  [Cf.  Alfred  de  Vigny, 
Grandeur  et  Servitude  militaires\  ; — and  because  vanquished  honour 
and  passion  find  no  other  refuge  in  them  than  in  death  [Cf.  the 
habitual  denouements  of  classic  tragedy] .  Finally  they  are  novels 
with  a  purpose, — their  author  showing  himself  constantly  concerned 
with  the  "rights"  or  the  condition  of  women; — with  the  dignity  of 
love  and  marriage ; — and  with  the  principle  of  social  morality. — 
Comparison,  in  this  connection,  between  Feuillet's  novels  and  those 
of  George  Sand ; — and  that  ha  reality,  in  spite  of  a  certain  apparent 
analogy, — they  are  more  unlike  than  like. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — They  comprise  his  Plays,  the  complete  edition  of 
which  in  five  volumes  [Calmann  Levy,  1892,  1893]  includes  all  of  his 


504    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

the  art  of  writing,  and  revived  that  respect  for  the 
language  and  that  religious  veneration  for  style  with- 
out which  nobody  who  has  written  in  French  has 
left  anything  lasting.  "The  French  genius,"  wrote  a 
good  judge,  "  as  represented  by  the  writers  of  the  pre- 
sent day  (1858),  is  regaining  qualities  it  seemed  to 
have  lost.  Simplicity  is  taking  the  place  of  a  confused 
and  pretentious  jargon,  clearness  that  of  magniloquence. 
Every  writer  now  knows  what  he  wants  to  say ;  tirades 
have  ceased  to  pass  muster ;  there  is  an  end  to  declam- 
ation ;  authors  are  no  longer  open-mouthed  as  if  their 
every  word  were  about  to  shake  heaven  and  earth" 
[Of.  J.  J.  Weiss,  le  Theatre  et  les  moeurs :  M.  Alexandre 
Dumas  fils] . 

pieces  that  have  been  put  on  the  stage,  among  the  number  being  some 
of  those  contained  in  the  two  volumes :  Scenes  et  Proverbes,  and 
Scenes  et  Comedies ; 

And  his  novels :  Bellali,  1850 ; — La  petite  Comtesse,  1856 ; — the 
Roman  d'unjeune  liommepauvre,  1858 ; — Histoire  de  Sibylle,  1862 ; — 
M.  de  C amors,  1867  ; — Julia  de  Trecceur,  1872  ; — Un  mariage  dans 
le  monde,  1875  ; — Les  amours  de  Philippe,  1877 ; — the  Journal  d'une 
femme,  1878 ; — the  Histoire  d'une  Parisienne,  1881 ; — La  Veuve, 
1883; — La  Morte,  1886; — and  Honneur  d'artiste,  1891. 

V.— Charles-Marie-Rene  Leconte  de  Lisle  [Saint-Paul,  lie 

de  la  Reunion,  1818 ;  f  1894,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Charles  Baudelaire's  Notice  in  Crepet's  Becueil 
des  Poetes  franqais,  vol.  iv.,  Paris,  1865  ; — Th.  Gautier,  Rapport  sur 
les  progres  de  la  poesie,  1867; — Paul  Bourget,  Essais  de  psychologic 
contemporaine,  Paris,  1886 ; — Maurice  Spronck,  Les  artistes  litteraires, 
Paris,  1889  ; — Jules  Lemaitre,  Les  contemporains,  vol.  ii.,  1893  ; — F. 
Brunetiere,    I' Evolution   de   la  poesie   lyrique,  vol.   ii.,   1893  ; — and 
Nouveaux  essais  de  litterature  contemporaine,  1895  ; — Jean  Dornis, 
Lecomte    de    Lisle,    Paris,    1895 ; — Henry   Houssaye,   Discours    de 
reception,  1895. 

2.  THE  POET. — A  Romanticist  at  the  outset  of  his  career. — His 
residence  at  Rennes,  and  La  Variete,  a  literary  review,  1840-1841. — 
He  comes  to  Paris  and  writes  for  the  phalansterian  publications  ; — 


MODERN   TIMES  505 

It  is  possible,  and  at  the  present  day  it  is  imperative  to 
be  even  more  precise.  The  insipid  style — a  legacy  from 
the  Ideologists  or  the  Encyclopedists — which  is  exhibited 
ingenuously,  without  any  sense  of  horror  or  consciousness 
of  its  lamentable  shortcomings  in  the  prose  of  a  Villemain 
for  example,  and  often  even  of  a  Guizot ;  the  license 
which  a  Musset  or  a  Lamartine — who  were  proud  of  the 
feat — carried  more  than  once  to  extremes ;  the  incoherent 
metaphors  which  are  almost  a  stumbling-block  in  some 
of  Hugo's  masterpieces : 

Quand  notre  dme  en  revant  descend  dans  nos  entrailles, 
Cornptant  dans  notre  cceur  qu'enfin  la  glace  atteint ; 
Comme  on  compte  les  morts  sur  un  champ  de  batailles, 
Chaque  douleur  tombee  et  chaque  songe  eteint ; 

his  first  poems  ;  Hylas,  Niobe,  Hypatie ; — and  his  intervention  in 
favour  of  the  abolition  of  slavery. — He  translates  the  Iliad. — Publica- 
tion of  the  Poemes  Antiques,  1852 ; — of  the  Poemes  et  Poesies,  1853  ; — 
and  of  the  Poemes  Barbares,  1862. — Effect  these  poems  produce  on  G. 
Flaubert  [Cf .  his  Correspondence,  particularly  towards  1852—1853] . — 
The  Preface  to  the  Poemes  Antiques  [suppressed  in  subsequent 
editions]  ; — and  its  frankly  anti-Romanticist  declarations. 

The  poetic  inspiration  of  Leconte  de  Lisle  so  far  as  it  was  derived 
from  the  ancients ; — and  that  it  is  anti-religious  [Cf .  Hypatie]  ; — and 
marked  by  the  Pagan  love  of  pure  beauty  [Cf .  La  Venus  de  Milo] . — 
Resulting  consequences :  the  theory  of  the  impersonality  of  the  poet ; 
— religious  veneration  for  style; — and  the  doctrine  of  art  for  art. — 
Hindoo  antiquity  in  the  poems  of  Leconte  de  Lisle  [Cf.  Sunja, 
Bhagavaf] ; — and  that  to  this  source  must  be  traced  the  poet's 
Pessimism ; — his  exotic  tastes  ; — and  his  conception  of  a  "  naturalistic 
and  scientific  "  poetry. 

Leconte  de  Lisle's  poetic  inspiration  so  far  as  it  was  due  to  exotic 
influences ; — and,  in  this  connection,  of  the  influence  of  the  author  of 
Emaux  et  Camees ; — and  of  that  of  the  Orientates  ; — on  the  author 
of  the  Poemes  Barbares. — The  influence  of  the  Orientalists,  however, 
seem  to  have  been  still  more  considerable, — in  particular  that  of 
Eugene  Burnouf  [Cf .  in  Baudelaire's  Notice,  cited  above,  a  very  happy 
comparison  between  Leconte  de  Lisle  and  Ernest  Renan] . — Variety 
and  beauty  of  the  descriptive  passages  in  Leconte  de  Lisle  : — his 


506    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

the  involved  phrases  and  turns  of  expression  which  often 
cause  the  prose  of  Sainte-Beuve  —  particularly  in  his 
Port-Boyal — to  be  a  model  of  preciosity ;  the  powerful 
heaviness,  but  also,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  the 
unmannerliness,  the  vulgar  familiarity  which  make  it 
so  difficult  for  some  persons  of  delicate  taste  to  read 
La  Cousin  Bette,  or  the  Lys  dans  la  Vallee, — these 
defects  are  all  of  them  absent  from  the  Poemes  barbares, 
from  the  Histoire  de  la  litterature  anglaise,  from  Madame 
Bovary,  or  from  the  Vie  de  Jesus,  and  are  only  lighted  on 
in  the  dramas  of  Augier  and  Dumas. 

But  this  is  not  all,  for  the  impression  must  not  be  lei't 
that  the  Naturalists  confined  themselves  in  their  writings 

animals  [Cf.  le  Sommeil  du  condor ;  le  Eeve  du  jaguar ;  les  Ele- 
phants] ;  his  landscapes  [Cf .  le  Bernica ;  la  Fontaine  aux  lianes] ; 
— his  sense  of  the  diversity  of  races  [Cf.  le  Cceur  d'Hialmar,  la 
Verandah,  la  Tete  du  comte] . — That  these  descriptions  are  widely 
different  from  those  of  the  Bomanticists ; — in  virtue  of  the  author's 
regard  for  exactness ; — of  his  endeavour  to  keep  them  free  from  all 
trace  of  his  personality ; — of  the  intensity  of  the  life  with  which  he 
instills  them  [Cf.  la  Panther e  noire;  les  Hurleurs]. — •  Whether  it  be 
a  fact  that  these  characteristics  bring  his  poetry  into  a  line  with 
science ; — and  in  what  measure  it  is  allowable  to  describe  his  poetry 
as  scientific? 

Leconte  de  Lisle's  poetic  inspiration  so  far  as  it  was  derived  from 
Pessimism, — and  that  this  influence  is  the  cause  of  the  originality  of 
his  work. — Whether  Vigny  exerted  an  influence  on  Leconte  de  Lisle  ? 
— or  whether  they  both  derived  their  Pessimism  from  the  same 
source  ? — That  there  is  more  nobleness  in  the  Pessimism  of  Alfred 
de  Vigny ; — and  in  that  of  Leconte  de  Lisle  not  more  sincerity,  but 
a  more  communicative  conviction. — Leconte  de  Lisle  suffers,  too, 
from  his  inability  to  rid  himself  of  his  rather  narrow  hostility  to 
Christianity  ; — and  from  his  disinclination  to  express  any  pity  for 
"  sorrowing  humanity." — That  this  callousness,  however,  must  not 
be  imputed  to  his  personal  insensibility  [Cf.  le  Manchy,  Qa'in 
V Illusion  supreme] ; — but  to  his  resolve  to  give  utterance  in  his 
verse  solely  to  the  miseries  of  humanity  ; — and  not  to  the  miseries 
of  the  individual ; — and  also  perhaps  to  his  conception  of  stj'le. 


MODEKN    TIMES  507 

to  avoiding  the  defects  of  the  Eomanticists.  By  associating 
art  more  closely  with  the  imitation  of  nature,  Flaubert 
and  Taine,  Leconte  de  Lisle  and  Kenan  imparted  to 
style  a  degree  of  precision,  of  fulness,  of  solidity,  or,  to  use 
Flaubert's  expression,  of  "  density,"  in  which  it  had  long 
been  wanting.  Certain  magnificent  verses  of  Leconte 
de  Lisle  : 

Le  vent  respectueux,  parmi  leurs  tresses  sombres, 
Sur  leur  nuque  de  marbre  errait  en  fremissant, 
Tandis  que  les  parois  des  rocs  couleur  de  sang, 
Coinme  de  grands  miroirs  suspendus  dans  les  ombres, 
De  la  pourpre  du  soir  baignaient  leur  dos  puissant,  .  .  . 

certain  pages  of  Flaubert, — the  description  of  the  agri- 

Of  the  qualities  of  Leconte  de  Lisle's  style  ; — and  that  there  are  no 
"greater  verses"  than  his; — none  more  plastic; — none  more  har- 
monious.— They  are  a  little  wanting,  however,  in  ease,  or  in  "  air,"  so 
to  speak ; — and  also  a  little  in  variety. — He  would  have  been  better 
advised  too  had  he  avoided  certain  affectations  of  local  colour  ; — which 
do  not  add  to  the  truth  of  his  descriptions  : — while  they  tend  to  give 
rather  a  pedantic  idea  of  true  "  Naturalism." — There  is  nothing  more 
"  natural "  in  writing  Phoibos  instead  of  Phoebus  in  French  ; — and 
neither  the  sentiment  of  antiquity  ; — nor  the  accuracy  of  distinction  ; 
— nor  the  survival  of  a  work  of  art  are  dependent  on  such  minutiae. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Leconte  de  Lisle's  works  comprise :  (1)  his 
Poems,  arranged  as  follows  in  the  definite  edition  issued  by  himself : 
Poemes  Antiques ;  Poemes  Barbares  ;  Poemes  Tragiques. — There  is 
further  a  volume  of  posthumous  works,  Derniers  Poemes,  published 
in  1895 ; 

(2)  His  translations  of  the  Iliad,  the  Odyssey,  Hesiod,  ^Eschylus, 
and  Horace,  which  are  spoiled  by  excessive  literalness  and  seem  to 
have  been  "  written  for  the  booksellers." 

(3)  His    Erinnyes,    a    mere    adaptation    from    ^Eschylus,    more 
"  .^Eschylean "   than  the   original,  which   form  part  of  the  Poemes 
Tragiques,  but    must   be    classed   apart,  as   they  have  been  repre- 
sented on  the  stage. 

VI.— English  Influence. 

The  English  influence ; — which  had  been  undergone  by  everybody 


508    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

cultural  show  in  Madame  Bovary,  or  that  of  the  forest 
of  Fontainebleau  in  the  Education  sentimentale, — in- 
numerable pages  of  Taine  or  Renan  have  impressed  us 
as  work  that  is  "definite"  and  "finished."  It  may  be 
questioned  indeed  whether  they  have  not  gone  to  extremes 
in  this  direction,  for  when  they  reached  the  point  of 
believing,  as  Flaubert  did  in  all  seriousness,  that  an 
"  assemblage  of  words  "  has  "  a  beauty  of  its  own  "  inde- 
pendently of  what  it  expresses,  were  they  not  the  dupes 
of  a  veritable  artistic  hallucination  ?  I  should  be  disposed, 
for  my  part,  to  hold  that  they  were.  However,  it  was 
their  boundless  faith  in  the  virtue  of  style  that  recom- 
mended them  in  the  first  instance  to  their  contemporaries  ; 

to  a  slight  extent  since  the  beginning  of  the  century ; — and  primarily 
by  Chateaubriand ; — but  which  had  been  chiefly  felt  hitherto  in 
politics  and  history  ; — and  in  a  somewhat  vague  manner ; — begins  to 
act  on  more  definite  lines  towards  1855  ; — and  by  the  intervention  of 
certain  writers, — Philarete  Chasles,  Emile  Montegut,  Taine, — in  three 
principal  directions. 

1.  By  the  writings  of  Emile  Montegut ; — who   publishes   in  the 
Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  1851-1858,  a  more  thorough  study  of  the 
English  and  American  novel  than  any  foreign  author  has  ever  made 
at  any  period  of  a  foreign  literature; — a  sort  of  "realism"  at  once 
sentimental  and  caricatural ; — is  revealed  to  French  readers. — Dickens 
and  Thackeray  are  its  principal  representatives  ; — David  Copperfield 
or  Vanity  Fair  become  almost  as  popular  in  France  as  in  England ; — 
after  the  appearance  of  Taine's  admirable  and  well-known  studies  of 
Dickens  and  Thackeray. 

2.  At  the   same  time   Darwin's   celebrated  book    The   Origin  of 
Species,  1858,  appears  in  England  and  arouses  considerable  attention 
everywhere. — It  is  at  once  translated  into  French  by  Mile  Clemence 
Royer  ; — Flourens  makes  a  pitiable  attempt  to  refute  it ; — but  it  gives 
an  extraordinary  impulsion  to  natural  history  studies  ; — and  through 
them  to  "  naturalistic  "  ideas  in  art  and  criticism ; — which  seem  in 
consequence   to  enjoy  added  authority. — In  France,  as  in  England 
and  in  Germany, — Darwin's  book  causes  "  biological  science  "  to  be 
regarded   as   the  typical    science    in  the    place    of    "mathematical 
science." 


MODEKN    TIMES  509 

and  the  talent  for  writing  for  which  they  were  admired 
brought  about  the  vogue  of  their  aesthetic  doctrines. 

Certain  of  the  critics,  those  of  the  academic  and  uni- 
versity school,  with  Sainte-Beuve  at  their  head,  and 
among  his  following,  J.  J.  Weiss,  Cuvillier-Fleury,  and 
Prevost-Paradol,  had  made,  it  is  true,  a  show  of  resistance, 
but  they  had  not  been  listened  to,  and  still  less  had  their 
lead  been  followed.  On  the  contrary,  the  last  of  the 
Komanticists  themselves,  Victor  Hugo,  George  Sand, 
and  Michelet,  were  seen  to  incline  towards  Naturalism. 
Thus  there  is  no  overlooking  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
Poemes  Antiques  and  the  Po&mes  Barbares  that  Victor 
Hugo  has  imitated,  imitated  as  he  was  able,  as  he 

3.  Finally,  and  to  say  nothing  of  Emile  Montegut's  translation  of 
Emerson's  Representative  Men, — or  of  Taine's  study  of  English 
Idealism  (I'ldealisme  anglais), — George  Eliot's  novels,  Adam  Bede, 
Silas  Marner,  etc.,  are  translated,  and  the  attention  is  called  to  them  of 
the  French  public. — The  characteristic  of  these  novels  is, — that  they 
are  advisedly,  deliberately,  and  staunchly  "  naturalistic," — the  author 
having  the  advantage  over  all  her  contemporary  novelists, — Flaubert 
included, — of  a  considerable  philosophic  training. — And  thus  it  happens 
that  with  her  Naturalism,  — which  is  far  from  stopping  short  at  the 
surface  of  things, — is  introduced  at  the  same  time,  for  use  in  the  near 
future, — the  means  of  correcting  and  "  idealising"  it. 

VII.— Gustave  Flaubert  [Rouen,  1821 ;  f  1880,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Flaubert's  Correspondance,  4  volumes,  1887-- 
1893,  Paris,  and  preceding  the  first  volume :  Souvenirs  intim.es  [by 
Mme  Commanville,  his  niece] ; — Guy  de  Maupassant,  Etude  sur 
Gustave  Flaubert,  preceding  the  complete  edition  of  Flaubert's 
works ; — Maxime  du  Camp,  Souvenirs  litteraires,  Paris,  1882-1884. 

Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  xiii.,  1858,  and  Nouveaux 
lundis,  vol.  iv.,  1862 ;  — Saint-Rene  Taillandier,  in  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes,  1863  (February)  and  1869  (December) ;— F.  Brunetiere,  Le 
roman  naturaliste,  1877  and  1880 ; — Emile  Zola,  Les  romanciers 
naturalistes,  1881 ; — Paul  Bourget,  Essais  de  psychologic  contempo- 
raine,  1883; — Louis  Desprez,  I'Evolution  naturaliste,  Paris,  1883; — 


510    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

knew  how  to  imitate,  but  still  that  he  has  imitated  in  his 
Legende  des  Siecles.  Not  that  he  ceased  on  this  account 
to  be  a  Romanticist  !  The  Rose  de  I' Infante,  or  the 
Raisons  du  Monotombo  continue  to  be,  are  above  every- 
thing else  the  personal  impressions  and  opinions  aroused 
in  Hugo  by  his  subject.  Nevertheless  he  strove,  as  far  as 
his  essentially  lyric  genius  would  allow  him,  to  become 
epic,  impersonal,  and  objective ;  and  his  efforts  were 
occasionally  successful.  As  to  Michelet,  he  too  did  not 
abjure  his  method  or  refashion  his  "temperament."  In 
the  last  volumes  of  his  Histoire  de  France  he  continued 
only  to  concern  himself  with  and  to  render  in  his  prose 
the  lyric  thrill,  so  to  speak,  which  events  aroused  in  him. 

Maurice  Spronck,  Les  artistes  litteraires,  Paris,  1889 ; — Emile  Hen- 
nequin,  La  critique  scientifique,  Paris,  1888 ; — J.  Charles  Tarver, 
Gustave  Flaubert,  London,  1895  ; — Bettelheim,  Deutsclien  und  Fran- 
zosen,  Vienna,  1895. 

2.  THE  NOVELIST. — His  extraction ; — he  is  first  attracted  by 
Romanticism ; — his  early  friendships  with  Louis  Bouilhet  and 
Maxime  du  Camp, — his  travels. — His  conception  of  art  [Cf.  his 
Correspondence  with  his  "  Muse,"  Louise  Colet] ; — and  that  it  was 
originally  the  outcome  of  an  excess  of  modesty: — "Little  streams 
that  overflow  assume  the  airs  of  the  ocean ;  and  to  be  the  ocean 
all  they  lack  is  dimension  !  Let  us  remain  a  river,  and  be  content 
with  turning  our  mill"  [Cf.  vol.  ii.,  p.  190]. — Flaubert's  hatreds; — 
and,  in  contrast,  his  singular  esteem  for  "that  old  stick  of  a  Boileau." 
— Hesitations  and  first  efforts  :  La  Tentation  de  Saint  Antoine. — His 
preoccupation  with  style ; — and  whether  he  did  not  carry  it  to  lengths 
which  made  it  a  mania  ? 

Unity  of  Flaubert's  work ; — and  that  whatever  be  said  of  Madame 
Bovary  or  VEducation  sentimentale ; — is  equally  applicable  to  Sa* 
lamtnbo  or  the  Tentation  de  Saint  Antoine. — It  is  only  the  subject 
that  differs  ; — the  methods  remain  the  same ; — and  the  conception  of 
art  does  not  vary. — The  author's  first  concern  is  to  abstract  himself 
from  the  reality  he  is  depicting ; — and  to  note  in  depicting  it  only 
those  features  which  will  leave  the  same  impression, — on  all  those 
who  study  it  with  equal  closeness  [Cf.  on  this  subject  Sainte-Beuve's 
discussion  with  Flaubert  concerning  Salammbo] . — But  in  the  second 


MODERN    TIMES  511 

Still,  in  these  very  volumes,  and  more  especially  in  the 
Insecte,  the  Oiseau,  the  Femme  and  I' Amour,  he  made 
the  concession  to  Naturalism  that  he  came  to  regard 
everything  as  a  question  of  what  may  be  termed  physio- 
logical mysticism.  In  these  works  he  is  solely  preoccupied 
by  natural  history ;  and  henceforth  the  ultimate  explana- 
tion of  things  lies  in  some  veiled  pathological  detail. 
Shall  I  refer  to  George  Sand?  and  shall  I  say  that 
after  the  Marquis  de  Villemer,  1860,  or  perhaps  Monsieur 
Silvestre,  1865,  every  fresh  volume  she  adds  to  her  work 
detracts  from  rather  than  increases  her  fame  ?  Such  is 
unhappily  the  truth,  but  in  her  decadence  she  too,  she 
who  was  Valentine,  who  was  Indiana,  is  bent  on  "  getting 

place  the  depiction  ought  to  be  typical, — and  not  anecdotical; — a 
contrary  condition  to  that  observed  by  Komanticism ; — since  while 
Romanticism  singled  out  in  character  what  may  be  called  the  "  acci- 
dental" or  the  "unique"  [Cf.  Notre-Dame  de  Paris,  the  Confession 
dun  enfant  du  siecle,  Colombo] , — character  for  Flaubert  and  Natu- 
ralism,— as  for  the  science  of  his  time, — consisted  in  the  element 
which  is  durable  and  permanent  in  changing  things. — In  consequence, 
the  experience  of  Emma  Bovary  may  be  treated  hi  the  same  way  as 
that  of  the  daughter  of  Hamilcar; — and  both  may  be  regarded  as 
embodying ; — an  entire  "  moment "  of  history ; — an  entire  class  of 
women  ; — and  an  entire  civilisation. — This  is  what  Flaubert  means  by 
the  "  solidity  of  the  framework." — Thirdly,  the  work  must  be  endowed 
with  "  the  higher  life  of  form  "  ; — by  means  of  a  style  "  as  rhythmical 
as  verse  and  precise  as  the  language  of  the  sciences  "  ; — whose  power 
is  to  some  extent  intrinsic  or  existent  in  virtue  of  itself ; — "  indepen- 
dently of  what  is  expressed  "  ; — and  whose  inherent  beauty  has  some 
analogy  with  that  of  a  line ; — which  is  harmonious,  graceful,  and 
voluptuous  in  itself. — And  Flaubert  has  complied  with  all  these 
exigencies, — in  Salammbo  as  in  Madame  Bovary,  and  in  VEducation 
sentimentale  as  in  the  Tentation  dt  Saint  Antoine. 

But  all  Flaubert's  "  realisations," — with  the  exception  of  Madame 
Bovary, — have  been  spoiled  by  the  intervention  of  the  author  of 
Bouvard  et  Pec-uchet ; — whose  continuous  irony  is  a  perpetual  breach 
of  the  principle  of  the  impersonality  of  the  artist ; — and,  in  this  con- 
nection, of  Flaubert's  Pessimism. — Its  origin  is  purely  literary ; — and 


512    MANUAL    OF-   THE    HISTORY    OF    FRENCH   LITERATURE 

a  closer  grip  of  reality  "  ;  she  descends  from  her  cloudy 
heights,  and  with  a  modesty  which  does  her  honour 
consents  to  learn  from  Flaubert. 

There  is  one  point,  however,  on  which  they  are  un- 
yielding, and  happily  so,  since  it  is  the  vulnerable  point 
of  Naturalism.  They  do  not  admit  that  art  should  be 
severed  from  life,  or  that  the  artist  should  retire  from 
the  world  and  live  in  isolation.  "  Action ! — wrote 
Michelet  in  1866, — Voltaire  in  his  Lettres  anglaises 
has  uttered  the  mighty  word,  the  modern  Symbol ;  Man's 
object  is  action"  [Cf.  Histoire  de  France,  vol.  xvi.,  1st 
edition,  1866,  pp.  426,  427] .  George  Sand,  in  turn,  dis- 
cussing her  art  with  Flaubert,  declares:  "An  author  must 

he  is  incensed  against  life  and  his  fellow-men  solely  because  they  do  not 
understand  art  in  the  same  way  as  he  does  [Cf.  his  Correspondence] . 
— That  this  point  of  view  is  only  legitimate — on  the  condition  that  he 
who  adopts  it  confines  himself  strictly  to  his  art ; — and  renounces  the 
right  to  interpret  or  judge  life,  to  do  which  is  to  go  beyond  his  art. — 
Flaubert  held  that  nothing  existed  outside  art ; — a  belief  that  consti- 
tuted his  force  ; — but  also,  from  another  point  of  view,  his  weakness, — 
since  there  is  more  in  life  than  art. — Narrowness,  in  this  respect,  of 
Flaubert's  ideas ; — and  that  they  doubtless  contributed  to  no  slight 
extent  to  make  the  development  of  Naturalism  follow  narrow  instead 
of  spacious  lines. — And  that  if  this  disdain  for  all  that  is  not  art  is 
a  characteristic  of  Romanticism, — the  fact  explains  the  Romantic 
element  that  is  met  with  in  work  of  the  last  representatives  of 
Naturalism. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Flaubert's  works  comprise  : 

(1)  His  Fiction :  Madame  J3  ovary,  1856  [in  the  Revue  de  Paris] , 
and  1857,  Michel  Levy ; — Salammbo    1862 ; — V Education  sentimen- 
tale,  1870 ; — the  Tentation  de  Saint  Antoine,  1874  [fragments  of  the 
work  had  appeared  in  the  Artiste  in  1856  and  1857] ; — Trois  contes; — 
and  Bouvard  et  Pecuchet,  1881  [posthumous  and  unfinished] . 

(2)  Two  theatrical  pieces :   the  Candidat ; — and  the  Clidteau  des 
cceurs,  1879. 

(3)  Some  short  writings,  of  which  the  most  important  are  the  letter 
to  Sainte-Beuve  concerning  Salammbo ; — and  the  preface  to  the  Der- 
nieres  Chansons  de  Louis  Bouilhet. 


MODERN   TIMES  513 

write  for  everybody,  for  all  those  who  need  to  be  initiated 
.  .  .  There  is  all  the  secret  of  our  persevering  labour  and 
of  our  love  of  art.  Wliat  is  art  without  the  hearts  or  the 
intelligences  to  which  it  ministers  ?  "  [Cf.  George  Sand, 
Correspondence,  vol.  v.,  letter  No.  616,  October,  1866J .' 
This  is  what  Leconte  de  Lisle  and  Flaubert  refused  to 
understand; — and  it  is  in  the  truth  contained  in  this 
lesson  that  Naturalism,  after  having  transformed  litera- 
ture, found  the  great  obstacle  to  its  propagation. 

For  other  novelists,  and  foremost  amongst  them  Octave 
Feuillet,  the  author  of  the  Histoire  de  Sibylle,  1862,  and 
of  Monsieur  de  Camors,  1867,  have  realised  the  truth  in 
question,  and  their  influence  in  consequence  has  counter- 

His  complete  works,  less  the  Correspondence,  have  been  issued  in 
seven  volumes,  in  8vo,  Paris,  1885,  Quantin. 

VIII.— Hippolyte-Adolplie  Taine  [Vouziers,  1828;  f  1893, 
Paris]. 

1.  THE   SOURCES.— Sainte-Beuve,    Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.   xiii., 
1857;    and  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  viii.,  1864 ;— G.   Planche,   in  the' 
Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  April,  1857  ;  Edmond  Scherer,  Melanges  de 
critique  religieuse,  1858 ;— Emile  Montegut,  Essais  sur  la  litterature 
anglaise,  1863; — Caro,  VIdee  de  Dieu  et  ses  nouveaux  critiques,  Paris, 

864  5 — Abbe  Guthlin,  Les  doctrines  positivistes  en  France,  Paris, 
1865  ;— P.  Janet,  La  crise  philosopliique,  Paris,  1865  ;— F.  Ravaisson' 
Rapport  sur  les  progres  de  la  philosophic,  Paris,  1868. 

Paul  Bourget,  Essais  de  psychologic  contemporaine,  1883 ; — Emile 
Hennequin,  La  critique  scientiftque,  Paris,  1888 ;— F.  Brunetiere, 
I' Evolution  des  genres,  vol.  i.,  1889 ;— E.  M.  de  Vogue,  Le  dernier  livre 
de  Taine,  1894  ;— G.  Monod,  Renan,  Taine  et  Michelet,  Paris,  1894  •— 
A.  de  Margerie,  H.  Taine,  Paris,  1894 ;— E.  Dowden,  Literary  criticism 
in  France,  Boston,  1895  ;— G.  Barzellotti,  Ippolito  Taine,  Rome,  1895  ; 

-E.  Boutnrv,  Hippolyte  Taine,  Paris,  1897. 

2.  THE    EVOLUTION  OF  TAINE'S    THOUGHT.  —  Taine's    birth    and 
training  ;— the  years  he  passed  at  the  Ecole  Normale  [Cf .  some  letters 
on  this  subject  in  Guard's  Prevost-Paradol,  Paris,  1895] ;— he  begins 
his  career  as  a  professor.— The  Essai  sur  La  Fontaine,  1853 ;— the 
Essais  sur  Tite-Live,  1856 ;— the  Philosophes  francais  au  XIX'  'siecle, 
1857  ; — and  the  Essais  de  critique  et  d'histoire,  1858. 

34 


514    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOBY   OF   FRENCH   LITEEATURE 

balanced  that  of  the  Naturalists.  It  was  taken  to  heart, 
however,  still  more  profoundly  by  the  dramatists,  whose 
art,  as  we  have  seen,  disappears  entirely  if  they  lose  touch 
with  the  public.  "How  many  simpletons  are  necessary 
to  form  a  public?"  insolently  demanded  Chamfort. 
What  he  should  have  said  was:  How  many  spectators 
are  necessary  of  every  age  and  every  social  rank,  who 
are  in  no  wise  ' '  artists ' '  ?  who  have  not  the  right  to 
be  artists,  and  whom  in  consequence  it  is  the  function 
of  art  to  raise  to  its  own  level?  And  it  happens  in 
reality  that  after  the  slight  surprise  caused  them  by 
the  doctrine  of  art  for  art,  such  writers  as  Feuillet, 
Augier,  and  Dumas  free  themselves  from  its  bondage, 

That  under  the  influence  of  the  philosophy  of  Spinosa,  Hegel  and 
Auguste  Comte, — and  of  history  as  conceived  by  Michelet, — Taine's 
first  act  was  to  "  purge  "  criticism  of  all  moral  intention, — and  of 
all  aesthetic  pretensions  ; — and  to  reduce  it  to  mere  natural  history. 
— The  theory  of  the  race,  the  environment  and  the  moment ; — 
and  is  it  true  that,  as  set  forth  by  Taine,  there  is  nothing  new 
about  it  except  its  exaggeration  ? — It  is  Gustave  Planche  and  not 
Sainte-Berrve  who  best  appreciated  the  entire  novelty  of  the  method ; 
— which  lay  in  the  fact  that  though  its  elements  existed  on  every 
hand; — its  "synthesis"  had  not  been  effected; — and  still  less 
had  anybody  perceived  its  consequences. — The  application  of  the 
doctrine ; — and  the  Histoire  de  la  litterature  anglaise,  1863. — 
Criticism  hi  Table's  eyes  is  "the  natural  history  of  intelligences"; 
— the  artist  and  the  poet  being  in  a  very  slight  measure  representative 
of  themselves  ;  —  but  rather  the  spokesmen  at  every  period  of  an 
entire  species  of  men,  sentiments  or  ideas. 

Tame  continued  to  adhere  to  this  theory  until  1865.  —  At  this 
juncture,  having  been  appointed  "  Professor  of  ^Esthetics  and  of  the 
History  of  Art"; — and  being  the  most  conscientious  of  men; — he 
came  to  recognise  that  it  is  impossible  to  discuss  works  of  art  without 
"  judging"  them  ; — or  even  to  write  their  history  without  "  classify- 
ing "  them. — These  new  convictions  are  already  visible  in  his  Philo- 
sophic de  I'art  en  Italie,  1865  ; — and  more  clearly  so  in  his  Voyage  en 
Italic,  1866 ; — while  they  are  openly  affirmed  in  his  Ideal  dans  I'art, 
1869. — It  is  in  this  volume  that,  after  having  exhausted  all  the 


MODERN   TIMES  515 

write  "  pieces  with  a  purpose,"  and  moralise  to  the  top 
of  their  bent.  Feuillet,  indeed,  is  less  successful  as  a 
dramatist  than  as  a  novelist,  and  I  only  mention  him 
in  this  connection  for  the  sake  of  completeness.  But 
assuredly  it  is  neither  to  "  impassibility  "  nor  even  to 
"impartiality"  that  Emile  Augier  lays  claim  in  the 
Effrontes,  1861,  in  the  Fils  de  Giboyer,  1862,  and  still 
less  in  Maitre  Guerin,  or  in  Lions  et  Eenards,  1869; 
while  Dumas,  the  bolder  of  the  two,  goes  further  still. 
"  We  are  lost, — he  cries  in  the  Preface  he  writes  in  1868 
to  his  Fils  naturel — and  dramatic  art,  that  great  art,  is 
about  to  degenerate  into  a  thing  of  tinsel,  spangles  and 
gewgaws  ;  it  will  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  mountebanks 

"natural"  means  of  fixing  the  rank  of  works  of  art; — technical 
capacity  ; — permanence  and  depth  of  the  character  expressed  by  the 
works ; — "  convergence  of  effects  "  ; — he  lays  down  as  the  decisive 
criterion, — "  the  degree  in  which  their  character  makes  for  good." — 
And  the  criterion  is  open  to  discussion ; — but  it  is  a  criterion,  and  one 
of  a  kind  that  no  Geoffroy  Saint-Hilaire  would  ever  have  invoked  ; — 
since  it  tends  to  rank  the  fox  or  the  hyena  much  "  below  "  the  dog; — 
and  the  "  aesthetic  "  consideration  is  reintroduced  into  criticism  by  its 
adoption. 

In  the  meantime  the  events  of  1870-1871,  supervene; — they  are  a 
revelation  to  Taine.  —  He  publishes  his  Notes  sur  VAngleterre,  1872  ; 
— and  conceives  the  plan  of  the  great  work — of  which  the  first  volume, 
VAncien  regime,  1875, — is  perhaps  his  masterpiece. — His  study  of 
the  Revolution — acquaints  him  with  a  class  of  men  he  had  hitherto 
had  but  a  slight  knowledge  of. — He  asks  himself  with  an  anxiety  that 
does  him  credit, — if  it  be  true  "  that  a  palace  is  beautiful  even  when 
it  is  burning  or  especially  when  it  is  burning  "  ; — and  whether  when 
we  meet  with  a  "  crocodile  "  amongst  our  fellow  men, — it  is  incumbent 
on  us  merely  to  describe  and  admire  him  ? — His  honesty  causes  him 
to  reply  in  the  negative; — with  the  result  that  unintentionally  he 
reintroduces  into  criticism  the  "  moral "  consideration ;  —  which 
assumes  a  preponderating  importance  in  the  closing  volumes  of  his 
Origines,  1890-1892. — He  thus  finds  himself  back  at  the  point  in  the 
circle  from  which  he  had  started  ; — and  he  has  employed  forty  years 
of  uninterrupted  labour ; — to  reinstate  in  eclecticism  the  principle  he 


516    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

and  become  the  gross  amusement  of  the  populace,  if  we  do 
not  hasten  to  press  it  into  the  service  of  the  great  social 
reforms  and  the  great  hopes  of  humanity."  For  his  part, 
suiting  his  action  to  his  word,  he  will  henceforth  make  it 
his  constant  aim  to  contribute  to  what  he  designates  by 
the  somewhat  strange  expression,  "  the  rise  in  value  of 
humanity."  Is  it  not  a  pity,  under  these  circumstances, 
that  the  "  Naturalist "  he  had  been  in  his  earlier  years 
should  too  often  clash  with  the  moralist  or  moraliser  he 
had  pledged  himself  to  become  ;  that  his  always  vivacious, 
but  at  once  violent  and  commonplace  style  should  betray 
to  the  very  end  the  persons  and  places  he  had  frequented 
in  his  youth ;  and  that  his  virtuous  women,  and  still 

had  most  bitterly  derided ; — the  principle,  that  is,  of  the  subordination 
of  criticism  and  history  to  morality. 

In  the  interval  he  has  displayed  admirable  gifts  as  a  writer ; — or 
even  as  a  poet ; — gifts  that  are  only  impaired  by  a  certain  artificiality. 
— The  reader  is  too  conscious  "  how"  his  finest  pages  were  composed. 
— They  are  marred  by  too  much  rhetoric  ; — by  too  many  obvious 
artifices  ; — especially  in  his  later  writings  ; — and  by  effects  of  a 
harshness  and  violence, — that  are  not  solely  ascribable  to  the  nature 
of  the  subject. 

3.  THE  WORKS.  —  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  draw  up  a  hard  and 
fast  classification  of  Taine's  works.  With  the  exception  of  the  Voyage 
aux  Pyrenees,  1835 ;  of  the  Vie  et  Opinions  de  Thomas  Graindorge, 
1868 ;  and  of  the  Notes  sur  I'Angleterre,  1872,  they  are  all  of  them 
"  critical  and  historical "  works. 

Essai  sur  les  fables  de  La  Fontaine  [written  to  obtain  his 
Doctor's  degree,  1853] ,  revised  under  the  title  La  Fontaine  et  ses 
Fables,  1860 ; — Essai  sur  Tite  Live,  1855  ; — Les  Philosophes  francais, 
1856  ; — Essais  de  critique  et  d'histoire,  1858 ; — Histoire  de  la  litte- 
rature  anglaise,  1863,  4  vols.  in  8vo,  or  5  vols.  in  12mo ; — Nouveaux 
essais  de  critique  et  d'histoire,  1865  ; — Philosophic  de  I'art  en  Italic, 
1865 ; — De  I'ldeal  dans  Vart,  1867 ; — Philosophie  de  I'art  en  Grece, 
1869 ; — Philosophie  de  Vart  dans  les  Pays-Bas  [four  volumes,  after- 
wards (1881)  published  in  two  volumes  under  the  title  Philosophie 
de  I'art] ; — Voyage  en  Italic,  1866 ; — De  V Intelligence,  1870 ; — the 
Origines  de  la  France  contemporaine,  1876-1890 ; — Derniers  essais 
de  critique  et  d'histoire,  1894  ; — Garnets  de  Voyage,  1896. 


MODERN   TIMES  517 

more  his  dialecticians, — both  of  whom  come  to  conclusions 
that  are  less  impeachable  than  the  arguments  they  em- 
ploy,— should  seem  to  take  an  unconscious  or  paradoxal 
pleasure  in  celebrating  the  "hopes  of  humanity"  in  the 
somewhat  unvarnished  language  of  his  Suzanne  d'Ange 
or  his  Albertine  de  la  Borde?  "  So  much  wit  has  never 
been  made  to  serve  the  purpose  of  rendering  us  stupid," 
Voltaire  formerly  wrote  to  the  author  of  the  Discours 
sur  I'inegalite  :  and  similarly  it  will  be  said  in  the  future 
that  the  cause  of  idealism  has  never  been  defended  by 
methods  more  naturalistic  than  those  of  the  author  of 
I'Etrangere  or  of  the  Princesse  de  Bagdad.  Impartial 
critics  will  add,  however,  that  these  methods  were  the 

IX.— Ernest  Renan  [Treguier,  1823  ;  1 1892,  Paris] . 

1.  THE    SOUBCES. — His   Correspondence,  only  portions   of  which 
have  appeared  as  yet :  Lettres  a  sa  soeur  Henriette,  1896,  Paris  ;  and 
Lettres   a   M.   Berthelot,   Paris,   1898 ; —  Ernest   Renan,    Souvenirs 
d'enfance  et  dejeunesse,  Paris,  1876-1882; — Abbe  Cognat,  M.  Eenan 
liier  et  aujourd'hui,  1883,  Paris. 

Sainte-Beuve,  Nouveaux  lundis,  vol.  ii.,  1862;  and  vol.  vi.,  1863; 
— the  works  by  Edmond  Scherer,  Abbe  Guthlin,  Caro,  Janet,  and 
Ravaisson,  referred  to  above  in  the  article  on  Taine  ; — Paul  Bourget, 
Essais  de  psychologic  contemporaine,  Paris,  1883  ; — Jules  Lemaitre, 
Les  contemporains,  vol.  i.,  1884. 

A.  Ledrain,  Renan,  sa  vie  et  ses  oeuvres,  Paris,  1892 ;  —  James 
Dormesteter,  Notice  sur  la  vie  et  Vosuvres  de  M.  Renan,  Paris, 
1893 ; — G.  Seailles,  Renan,  Paris,  1895 ; — R.  Allier,  La  Philosophic 
d1  Ernest  Renan,  Paris,  1895  ; — Ch.  Renouvier,  Philosophic  analytique 
de  Vhistoire,  vol.  ii.,  1896,  vol.  iv.,  1897. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER. — His  extraction ; — his  childhood ; — 
and  that  while  there  was  perhaps  something  in  him  of  the  "  Gascon  " 
and  the  "  Breton," — still  his  character,  the  nature  of  his  intelligence 
and  even  his  talent  were  more  especially  the  work  of  his  sister  Henri- 
ette.— His  early  studies  ; — the  seminary  ; — and  was  his  estrangement 
from  Christianity  due  to  "  philological "  reasons  ? — It  seems  rather  to 
have  been  due  to   reasons  of  a  "  philosophic  "  order ; — of  which  it 
was  not  until  later  that  he  sought  the  justification  in  exegesis ; — and 


518    MANUAL   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   FRENCH  LITERATURE 

best  or  the  most  efficacious  that  Dumas  could  have 
employed  at  the  time ;  and  will  remember,  when  re- 
proaching him  with  their  occasional  vulgarity,  that  in 
the  end  they  served  the  interests  of  art  itself. 

I  would  endeavour  to  prove  this  assertion,  if  I  were 
in  a  position  to  do  so  ;  I  mean  if  I  had  not  been  obliged 
to  decide  that  I  would  offer  no  appreciation  of  any 
living  author  in  this  "  Manual  of  the  History  of  French 
Literature."  There  can  be  no  history  of  contemporary 
matters ;  the  thing  is  a  contradiction  in  terms ;  we  are 
too  close  to  the  men  or  the  works  of  our  time,  and  we 
lack  the  independence  and  the  documents  necessary  to 

much  later  still  in  natural  history. — The  Avenir  de  la  science,  1849  ; 
— and  that  this  work  would  be  entirely  representative  of  Kenan, — if, 
at  a  later  date,  his  popularity  had  not  brought  to  the  front, — the 
dilettante  and  the  "trifler  "  in  him, — whose  existence  had  long  been 
wholly  unsuspected. 

Kenan's  early  works  ; — Averroes  et  VAverro'isme,  1852 ; — Histoire 
generate  des  langues  semitiques,  1857  ; — Etudes  d'histoire  religieuses, 
1848-1857  ; — Essai  sur  Torigine  du  language,  1858  ; — and  that  these 
works  are  not  the  least  remarkable  of  those  he  has  left. — Their 
common  characteristic  is  that  they  display  the  desire,  on  the  part 
of  their  author,  to  retain  as  much  of  "religion"  as  it  is  possible 
to  retain  in  the  absence  of  belief  in  religion; — an  attitude  which 
would  simply  be  that  of  Voltaire ; — were  it  not  in  a  still  greater 
measure  that  of  Chateaubriand; — on  account  of  the  sincerity  of  senti- 
ment Kenan  exhibits  in  this  portion  of  his  work  ; — and  of  the  infinite 
eharm  of  style  with  which  he  smoothes  over  the  contradictory  nature 
of  his  enterprise. — Another  characteristic  of  these  early  works  is  their 
solid  erudition  [Cf.  the  Livre  de  Job,  1858 ;  the  Cantique  des  Can- 
tiques,  1860 ;  and  in  particular  the  Discours  sur  I'etat  des  beaux-arts 
au  XIVe  siecle] . — Kenan's  contributions  to  the  Histoire  litteraire  de 
la  France. — How  all  these  works  helped  to  extend  to  a  sensible 
degree  the  domain  of  literature, — by  including  in  it,  thanks  to  the 
power  of  style ; — the  results  achieved  by  erudition,  philosophy,  and 
exegesis. 

Publication  of  the  Vie  de  Jesus ; — emotion  aroused  by  this  book  ; 


MODEEN   TIMES  519 

judge  them.  However,  I  may  point  out  in  general  terms 
how  considerable  has  been  the  influence  of  the  ideas  of 
Dumas  ;  and  to  realise  the  fact  it  is  sufficient  to  bear  in 
mind  how  numerous  are  the  influences  over  which  the 
influence  of  Dumas  seems  to  have  triumphed  at  the 
moment  at  which  I  write. 

It  has  triumphed  over  the  Dilettantism,  which  certain 
belated  disciples  of  Stendhal  and  Beaudelaire,  impenitent 
self -admirers,  Eomanticists  unbeknown  to  themselves, 
attempted  to  restore  to  favour  on  the  morrow  of  the 
events  of  1870-1871,— as  if  the  sole  effect  of  these  events 
on  literature  had  been  to  widen  the  breach  between  art 
and  life.  I  do  not  allude  here  to  the  ill-advised  imita- 

and  the  reasons  for  this  emotion,  1863. — The  work  was  the  first  to  give 
the  results  of  Biblical  criticism  stripped  of  all  the  pedantry  of  German 
scholarship ; — "  sacred  "  history  is  brought  down  in  it  to  the  purely 
human  level  of  all  other  history ; — and  for  the  Divine  personage  of 
the  Gospels  is  substituted  another  personage ; — real,  and  no  longer 
symbolical  or  "  mythical "  as  was  the  Jesus  of  Strauss  and  the  German 
theologians. — These  characteristics  are  again  met  with  in  all  the 
volumes  of  the  Origines  du  christianisme,  1863-1881 ; — but  as  the 
work  approaches  its  conclusion ; — Kenan's  criticism  comes  more  and 
more  to  resemble  that  of  Voltaire ;—  by  reason  of  a  certain  disin- 
genuousness  in  the  interpretation  of  facts ; — of  a  positive  contempt 
for  humanity,  which  must  be  deceived  if  it  is  to  be  influenced 
even  for  its  good ; — and  of  an  affectation  of  levity  totally  out  of  place 
in  connection  with  a  subject  of  such  gravity. — The  work  still  dis- 
plays some  of  the  qualities  of  the  author  of  the  Etudes  d'histoire 
religieuse  ; — his  art  of  evoking  an  entire  series  of  ideas  by  a  single 
word ; — the  clearness  of  his  style  ; — and  an  ease  that  will  be  at  once 
appreciated  by  comparing  it  with  the  metallic  brilliancy  of  Taine's 
prose. —  still  in  the  later  volumes  dilettantism  begins  to  make  its 
appearance, —  the  most  regrettable  bent  of  mind  there  is  for  an 
historian  ; — so  far  as  it  leads  him  to  regard  his  subject  merely  as 
a  source  of  self-satisfaction ; — and  as  a  pretext  for  displaying  his 
intellectual  graces. 

Renan's  last  works:  Caliban,  1878 ;—  VEau  de  Jouvence,  1880;— 
the  Preface  to  the  translation  of  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes,  1881 ; — the 


520    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF   FEENCH   LITERATURE 

tions  of  Renan,  of  the  Renan  of  the  Antechrist, 
1874,  or  of  the  Abbesse  de  Jouarre,  1886  :  these  writers 
have  overlooked  the  element  of  indestructible  and  un- 
compromising dogmatism  that  underlies  the  jesting  of 
the  master :  Saltavit  et  placuit :  he  danced  and  he  raised 
laughter  !  but  there  are  two  or  three  points  that  he  never 
abandoned,  and  these  two  or  three  points  constitute  the 
whole  of  Positivism.  I  do  not  refer  to  the  writers 
who,  nurtured  on  the  Fleurs  du  mal,  and  full  of  admir- 
ation for  the  portrait  which  Stendhal  has  drawn  of 
himself  in  the  character  of  Julian  Sorel,  only  demanded 
of  art  that  it  should  serve  them  as  an  instrument  of 
solitary  pleasure,  and  thus  confounded  it,  not  merely 

Pretre  de  Nemi,  1885 ; — the  Abbesse  de  Jouarre,  1886  ; — the  Histoire 
d'Israel,  1887-1890. — Exaggeration  of  Kenan's  defects  in  these  later 
writings ; — and  whether  they  are  not  the  outcome  in  the  main  of  a 
desire  to  show  himself  worthy  of  a  popularity  he  had  profoundly 
despised  during  his  laborious  early  years  ? — They  exhibit,  however, 
that  intellectual  curiosity  he  retained  to  the  very  end  ; — the  desire  to 
understand  his  tune ; — and  that  religious  veneration  for  science, 
that  is  all  that  remained  to  him  in  the  shape  of  religion. — 
Taine  was  similarly  situated ; — but  by  a  contradiction  that  finally 
characterises  the  two  writers, — whereas  Taine,  whose  starting-point 
had  been  pure  "  Naturalism,"  tended,  almost  from  first  to  last, 
towards  the  reconstitution  of  the  principles  of  the  moral  life  ; — Renan, 
whose  starting-point  had  been  a  very  lofty  and  very  strict  morality, — 
came,  in  his  desire  to  make  it  broader,  to  disregard  it, — and  to  adopt 
dilettantism  as  his  rule  of  life. 

His  influence  has  been  considerable ; — as  considerable  as  that  of 
any  of  his  contemporaries  ; — particularly  during  the  last  years  of  his 
life — as  being  of  a  more  general  character, — and  exerted  in  connection 
with  more  universal  questions  ; — or  with  questions  whose  interest  is 
more  universally  felt ; — than  that  of  the  problems  of  pure  aesthetics 
or  art. — He  also  did  much  towards  amusing  his  contemporaries. — 
Finally  he  was  prodigal  of  "confessions"; — at  a  period  when  his 
fellow- writers  had  ceased  to  indulge  in  "  personal  literature  "  ; — and 
he  persuaded  a  generation  of  young  men, — that  forty  years  of  labour 
and  meditation  had  merely  enabled  him  to  arrive  at  conclusions  at 


MODEEN   TIMES  521 

with  its  perversion, — optimi  corruptio  pessima — but 
with  intellectual  dissoluteness  and  debauchery.  Nobody 
has  protested  more  energetically  than  Dumas  against 
this  confusion,  which  is  among  the  most  deplorable  that 
can  be  named,  since  it  causes  the  name  of  art  to  serve 
as  a  screen  to  the  most  egoistic  of  trades  ;  and  nobody  has 
denounced  more  energetically  the  dangers  and  the  anti- 
social side  of  dilettantism. 

He  was  no  less  energetic  in  his  protests  against  Natur- 
alism, more  especially  when  this  Naturalism,  strangely 
degenerated  from  the  idea  that  a  Taine  or  a  Flaubert  had 
formed  of  it,  became  the  exact  opposite  of  what  it  had 
promised  to  be  [Cf.  F.  Brunetiere,  Le  roman  naturaliste]. 

which,  according  to  his  own  expression  [Cf.  I'Ecclesiaste] ,  "  a  street 
arab  arrives  off  hand." 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Kenan's  works  may  be  divided  into  three  principal 
groups,  according  as  they  appertain  to  pure  erudition,  to  the  general 
history  of  religions  or  of  Christianity  in  particular,  or  to  what  we 
should  term  philosophy,  were  it  not  necessary  to  distinguish  in  this 
last  group  between  the  really  serious  works  and  those  which  are  purely 
fanciful. 

(1)  Works  of  pure  erudition :  Averroes  et  I'Averrolsme  [written  in 
view  of  his  degree] ,  1852 ; — Histoire  generale  et  comparee  des  langues 
semitiques,  1857  ; — Essai  sur  Vorigine  du  langage,  1858 ; — his  Papers 
in  the  Journal  asiatique  OP  the  Memoires  de  V Academic  des  inscrip- 
tions;— and  his   articles   in  the  Histoire   Utteraire  de   la  France, 
vols.  xxiv.  to  xxx. 

To  the  above  should  be  added  the  important  work  entitled  Mission 
de  Phenicie,  1865 ; — and  his  contributions  to  the  Corpus  inscriptionum 
semiticarum. 

(2)  Religious    history. — Etudes  d'histoire  religieuse,   1857 ; — and 
Nouvelles  etudes  d'histoire  religieuse,  1884 ;  two  volumes,  the  second 
of  which  contains  some  of  Renan's  early  writings  on  Buddhism  and 
on  St.  Francis  of  Assisi. — De  la  part  des  peuples  semitiques  dans 
Vhistoire  de  la  civilisation,  brochure,  1861 ; — Vie  de  Jesus,  1863  ;  les 
Apotres,  1866 ;  Saint  Paul,  1869  ;  V Antechrist,  1873  ;  les  Evangiles, 
1877 ;  TEglise  chretienne,  1879  ;  Marc-Aurele,  1881,  seven  volumes, 
completed  by  an  index; — Histoire  du  peuple  d 'Israel,  1887-1892. 


522     MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

It  is  true  that  in  this  instance  other  influences,  whose 
action  still  continues,  singularly  aided  or  amplified  that  of 
Dumas.  Foremost  among  the  influences  in  question  is 
that  of  Schopenhauer,  whose  idealist  Pessimism,  differed 
so  widely  and  so  happily  from  that  vulgar  Pessimism 
which  is  a  mere  disguise  for  unsatisfied  appetites  and  the 
pride  of  life.  Another  of  these  influences  is  that  of 
George  Eliot,  of  whose  Naturalism  it  may  be  said  that 
it  is  an  ethical  or  a  sociological  rather  than  an  aesthetic 
principle ;  a  circumstance  that  distinguishes  it  from  the 
purely  artistic  or  impassible  Naturalism  of  the  author  of 
V Education  sentimentale  or  Madame  Bovary.  There  is 
further  the  influence  of  Tolstoi  and  of  Ibsen,  of  the 

To  the  above  should  be  added  translations :  of  the  Book  of  Job, 
1858;  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  1860;  of  Ecclesiastes,  1881; — and 
the  volume  entitled  Conferences  d'Angleterre,  1881. 

(3)  Philosophic  works. — Essais  de  morale  et  de  critique,  1860 ; — 
Questions  contemporaines,  1868 ; — La  re  forme  intellectuelle  et  morale, 
1871  ; — Dialogues  et  fragments  philosophiques,  1876 ; — Melanges 
d'histoire  et  de  voyages,  1878 ; — Discours  et  conferences,  1887  ; — 
VAvenir  de  la  science,  1890  [written  in  1848] . 

The  following  works  form  a  group  apart :  Caliban,  1878  ; — I'Eau 
de  Jouvence,  1880  ; — le  Pretre  de  Nemi,  1885  ; — 1802 :  Dialogue  des 
marts,  1886 ; — and  VAbbesse  de  Jouarre,  1886. 

The  Souvenirs  d'enfance  et  de  jeunesse,  1876-1882,  together  with 
such  of  the  Correspondence  as  has  appeared,  form  a  final  category. 

X.  —Charles  Baudelaire  [Paris,  1821 ;  f  1867,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOURCES. — Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries  du  lundi,  vol.  ix.,  1859 ; — 
Theophile  Gautier,  Notice  sur  Charles  Baudelaire  and  Rapport  sur  les 
progres  de  lapoesie,  1868 ; — Ch.  Asselineau,  Baudelaire,  sa  vie  et  son 
ceuvre,  Paris,  1869  ; — Charles  Baudelaire,  souvenirs,  correspondance, 
bibliographie  [by  Charles  Cousin  and  Spcelberch  de  Lovenjoul] , 
Paris,  1872 ; — Maxime  du  Camp,  Souvenirs  litteraires,  Paris,  1882 ; — 
Charles  Baudelaire's  posthumous  works  and  unpublished  corre- 
spondence, edited  by  M.  Eugene  Crepet,  Paris,  1887  ; — Paul  Bourget, 
Essais  de  psychologie  contemporaine,  1883  ; — F.  Brunetiere,  Histoire 


MODERN    TIMES  523 

Russian  novel  and  the  Norwegian  drama,  productions 
the  exact  nature  of  which  cannot  be  determined,  as 
they  are  too  close  to  us,  though  it  is  clear  that  their 
principal  source  of  inspiration  is  "  social  pity."  It  has 
been  feared  by  some  that  the  French  genius  would  lose 
certain  of  its  qualities,  and  even  the  consciousness  of  its 
power  under  the  action,  the  apparently  conflicting  action, 
of  so  many  influences  ;  they  have  attacked  these  influences 
in  consequence,  but  how?  Simply  by  declaring  that, 
before  Tolstoi  or  George  Eliot,  French  writers,  notably 
George  Sand,  but  more  especially  and  more  recently 
Alexander  Dumas,  had  given  expression  to  what  it  had 
been  imagined  was  most  Russian  in  Tolstoi  and  most 
"  Anglo-Saxon  "  in  George  Eliot. 

et  litterature,  vol.  iii.,  1887,  and  Nouveaux  Essais,  1891 ; — Maurice 
Spronck,  les  Artistes  litteraires,  1889. 

2.  THE  BOLE  OF  BAUDELAIRE  ; — and  that  it  is  entirely  posthumous. 
— Even  the  Fleurs  du  mal  would  have  attracted  scarcely  any  attention, 
— had  it  not  been  for  the  dubious  popularity  they  acquired,  owing  to 
the  judicial  proceedings  of  which  they  were  the  object. — But  his 
death  in  1867  having  recalled  attention  to  him, — and  removed  the 
scruples  many  persons  would  have  felt  in  professing  themselves 
Ms  admirers  or  disciples  during  his  lifetime, — it  is  from  this  date  that 
he  exerted, — and  that  he  still  exerts  a  real,  and  in  the  main  a  three- 
fold,  influence. — He  realised  that  morbid  poetry, — which  had  been  the 
dream  of  Sainte-Beuve's  earlier  years, — and  the  principle  of  which  is 
pride  in  suffering  from  some  unusual  or  anomalous  disease. — In  this 
way  he  discovered  and  gave  expression  to  certain  phenomena, — whose 
morbid  character  is  to  some  extent  atoned  for  by  the  keenness  of  the 
sensations  they  procure, — and  also  by  the  very  brutality  of  the  words 
to  which  recourse  must  be  had  to  express  them. — Finally,  by  his 
efforts  to  express  these  phenomena, — he  inaugurated  contemporary 
symbolism, — if  this  symbolism  consists  essentially  in  a  confused 
mixture  of  mysticism  and  sensuality. — The  question,  however,  arises 
in  connection  with  these  "  innovations  " — as  to  how  far  their  author 
was  sincere ; — and  whether  an  entire  school  of  writers  has  not  been 
the  dupe  of  a  dangerous  mystifier. 

3.  THE  WORKS. — In  addition  to  his  translations  of  Edgar  Poe,  His- 


524    MANUAL   OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

It  is  in  this  way  that  the  influence  of  Dumas  has  also 
triumphed  over  the  doctrine  of  art  for  art, — which,  more- 
over, he  did  not  understand  when  he  reproached  it  with 
inculcating  "the  mere  reproduction  of  facts,"  while  he 
understood  it  still  less  when  with  his  peremptory  assur- 
ance he  declared  it  "  absolutely  devoid  of  sense."  The 
author  of  the  Poemes  Antiques  and  the  Poemes  Barbares 
was  aware  of  what  he  was  about !  Indeed,  he  had  a 
clearer  view  of  his  goal  than  Dumas,  who  wrote  the  Visite 
de  noces,  while  he  talked  of  utilising  the  stage  as  a 
moralising  force.  Still  Dumas  was  right  in  recalling  that 
man  is  not  made  for  art,  but,  on  the  contrary,  art  for 
man :  a  point  which  nobody  contests  to-day.  If  the 

toires  extraordinaires,  1856 ; — Nouvelles  histoires  extraordinaires, 
1857  ; — Histoires  grotesques  et  serieuses,  1865  ; — and  to  his  Fleurs  du 
mal,  1857,  there  seems  to  be  nothing  worth  mention  unless  it  be  his 
Paradis  artificiels  ; — and  the  very  searching  articles  on  various  French 
poets  he  contributed  to  Crepet's  Becueil  des  poetes  francais. 

There  is  an  edition  in  seven  volumes  of  his  complete  works,  Paris. 
1868-1870,  Michel  Levy. 

XI. — The  Influence  of  German  Literature. 

The  German  influence,  after  its  introduction  by  Mine  de  Stae'l, 
continued  to  make  itself  felt, — but  down  to  1860  its  effects  were 
chiefly  seen  in  the  writings  of  certain  members  of  the  University, 
notably  in  those  of  Saint-Rene  Taillandier. — But  from  1860  onwards 
its  importance  increases, — and  it  makes  itself  felt  simultaneously  in 
three  or  four  directions. 

1.  In  philosophy ; — through  the  medium  of  Ernest  Eenan ; — 
Edmond  Scherer  [Cf.  his  study  of  Hegel  in  his  Melanges  d'histoire 
religieuse,  1861]  ; — and  Etienne  Vacherot  [Cf.  la  Metaphysique  et  la 
science]  ; — Hegelianism  comes  into  vogue, — and  there  is  endless  talk 
of  "  the  identity  of  the  contradictory  "  [Cf.  Gratry,  les  Sophistes  et  la 
Critique] ; — a  formula  in  wonderful  accordance  with  the  budding  idea 
of  evolution. — It  is  towards  the  same  period  that  the  Revue  ger- 
manique  is  founded ; — and  that  Schopenhauer  is  discovered  or  redis- 

vered  [Cf.  Foucher  de  Careil,  Hegel  et  Schopenhauer,  1862,  Paris, 
and  Challemel-Lacour,  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  MondesT  March,  1870] , 


MODERN   TIMES  525 

painter  or  the  sculptor  be  justified  in  concerning  them- 
selves solely  with  the  realisation  of  character  or  beauty, 
the  case  is  not  the  same  with  the  dramatist  or  the  poet, 
because  they  have  recourse  to  words,  and  words  express 
ideas  and  ideas  serve  as  causes  or  motives  of  action. 
Dumas  had  an  insight  into  this  truth,  though  he  ex- 
pressed it  somewhat  confusedly :  "  All  literature  the  aim 
of  which  is  not  perfectibility,  moralisation,  the  ideal,  in 
a  word  the  useful,  is  a  weakly,  unwholesome,  and  still- 
born literature."  It  may  be  regretted  that  he  did  not 
express  himself  better,  but  at  least  he  raised  his  voice, 
and  though  to  begin  with  he  met  with  violent  contra- 
dictors, it  was  his  view,  and  not  that  of  the  Leconte 

— whose  doctrines,  better  understood,  will  later  on,  towards  1875, 
renew  the  philosophic  conception  of  love,  and  in  consequence  that  of 
life  itself. 

2.  In  erudition ; — and  more  particularly  in  exegesis  and  philology  ; 
— Strauss  and  Baur  ; — Bopp  and  Diez  ; — Mommsen  and  Curtius  being 
taken  as  masters. 

3.  In  art  and  literature ; — almost  the  whole  of  Schiller  and  Goethe 
is  translated  at  this  period; — the    claims   of    Heinrich   Heine   are 
enforced   against  the   most    illustrious   of    the    Romanticists ; — and 

."  Wagnerianism  "  begins  to  gain  ground  both  for  musical  reasons ; — 
and  in  consequence  of  the  artistic  doctrines  that  are  deduced  from  it 
[Cf.  Ed.  Schure,  le  Drame  musical,  Paris,  1875] . — Henceforth,  in 
spite  of  some  "patriotic"  opposition, — no  influence  is  destined  to 
exert  a  more  considerable  action, — for  the  reason  that  it  is  not 
exclusively  "  musical "  ; — but  philosophic  ; — and  yet  more  because  it 
has  provided  up  to  the  present, — one  of  the  principal  elements  of 
resistance  to  be  found  in  the  entire  domain  of  European  thought ; — 
to  the  invasion  of  naturalism, — and  of  a  naturalism  even  more  super- 
ficial than  coarse. 

XII.— Alexandre  Dumas  fils  [Paris,  1824 ;  |  1895,  Paris] . 

1.  THE  SOUECES. — The  dramatic  criticisms  of  Jules  Janin  in  the 
Journal  des  Debats  ; — of  Theophile  Gautier  in  the  Presse  and  the 
Moniteur ; — of  F.  Sarcey  in  the  Opinion  nationals  and  the  Temps  ; — 
of  Jules  Lemaitre  in  the  Journal  des  Debats ; — Weiss,  Essais  sur 


526    MANUAL    OF    THE    HISTORY   OF  FEENCH   LITERATURE 

de  Lisles  or  the  Flauberts,  that  was  accepted  in  the 
end. 

The  foregoing  observations  may  be  summed  up  by 
saying  that,  after  having  been  individualist  in  the 
hands  of  the  Romanticists,  and  impersonal  in  those  of 
the  Naturalists,  modern  French  literature,  considered 
as  a  whole,  has  again  become  social.  And  if,  in  the 
guise  of  a  conclusion,  we  express  the  wish  that  it  may 
continue  to  deserve  this  epithet,  it  is  in  nowise  because 
we  ascribe  to  it  some  secret  meaning  or  mystic  value ! 
Nor  is  it  because  we  take  our  own  personal  opinion 
as  the  arbitrary  standard  of  the  opinion  of  others.  It 

rhistoire  de  la  litterature  francaise,  1857-1858 ; — Leopold  Lacour, 
Trois  theatres,  Paris,  1880; — Emile  Zola,  Nos  auteurs  dramatiques  ; 
and  Documents  litteraires,  Paris,  1881 ;— Paul  Bourget,  Essais  de 
psychologie  contemporaine,  1886  ; — Paul  de  Saint- Victor,  le  Theatre 
contemporain,  Paris,  1889 ; — Rene  Doumic,  Portraits  d'ecrivains, 
1892  ;  and  Essais  sur  le  theatre  contemporain,  1895-1897 ; — H. 
Parigot,  le  Theatre  d'hier,  Paris,  1893 ;  and  Genie  et  Metier,  Paris, 
1894. 

2.  THE  MAN  AND  THE  WRITER  ; — and  that  to  understand  Dumas  fils 
from  either  point  of  view, — and  still  more  to  judge  him, — it  must  be 
kept  in  view  that  he  affected  all  his  life  to  be  in  revolt ; — an  attitude, 
however,  whose  independence  was  limited — by  that  need  of  pleasing, 
— and  of  humouring  opinion  in  order  to  please — which  is  always  the 
stumbling-block  of  the  dramatist. 

A.  The  Realist ; — and  that  to  start  with  he  was  merely  a  descendant 
of  the  Romanticists, — and  a  weak  imitator  of  his  father, — in  the 
Aventures  de  trois  femmes  et  d'un  perroquet,  1846-1847 ; — in  le 
docteur  Servand,  1849 ; — and  in  le  Regent  Mustel,  1852  [Cf.  J.  J. 
Weiss,  loc.  cit.,  Les  Romans  de  M.  Dumas  fils] . — These  works  are 
equally  wanting  in  imagination,  style,  and  anything  in  the  shape  of 
artistic  intention  ; — and  if  anything  is  more  striking  than  the  prodigi- 
ous ignorance  of  their  author  ; — it  is  his  self-sufficiency  ; — two  legacies 
of  his  "big  child"  and  "good  fellow  of  a  father"  [Cf.  Un  pere 
prodigue]  . — The  success  of  the  Dame  aux  camelias,  1848  (the  novel) 
and  1852  (the  play), — shows  him  the  true  nature  of  his  talent; — 
which  lay  in  the  imitation  of  what  he  had  observed  himself ; — doubt- 


MODEBN   TIMES  527 

is  that  we  have  substantial  reasons  for  adopting  the  view 
in  question — the  very  reasons  we  have  endeavoured  to 
make  clear  in  this  summary  of  the  history  of  French 
literature.  For  while  dilettantism  has  certainly  had  the 
happy  consequence  that  by  developing  or  exciting  intel- 
lectual curiosity  it  has  sharpened  its  insight  or  widened 
its  scope,  and  while  further  it  cannot  be  denied, — and  we 
have  been  careful  not  to  deny, — that  Naturalism  has 
rendered  us  useful  and  even  precious  services  on  at  least 
two  or  three  occasions  in  the  course  of  our  history,  at 
the  same  time  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  a  "social" 
literature  from  appropriating  the  conquests  of  naturalism 


less  an  inferior  form  of  realism ; — as  is  that  of  a  Chamfleury  or  a 
Courbet ; — whose  realism  is  solely  due  to  the  sterility  of  their  inven- 
tion;— but  is  nevertheless  a  form  of  realism. — Difference  in  this 
respect  between  the  realism  of  Dumas  and  that  of  Flaubert  or  Taine. 
— Diane  de  Lys  constitutes  a  sort  of  return  to  Romanticism ; — but 
from  the  Demi-Monde  onwards  (1855), — Dumas  confines  himself  to 
realism  and  the  imitation  of  contemporary  manners. — The  Question 
d1  argent,  1857  ; — the  Fils  naturel,  1858,  which  is  a  portrait  of  Dumas 
himself; — the  Pere prodigue,  1859,  which  is  the  portrait  of  his  father; 
— VAmi  des  femmes,  1864 ; — and  V Affaire  Clemenceau,  1866, — are  all 
of  them  works  in  which  the  realistic  characteristics  dominate ; — as 
regards  the  nature  of  the  plots  ; — the  choice  of  the  personages ; — and 
the  familiarity  of  the  style. — There  appears  a  further  difference 
between  Dumas'  "  realism  "  and  that  of  Flaubert  or  Leconte  de  Lisle  ; 
— namely,  his  almost  absolute  indifference  to  form ; — and  his  belief 
that  an  author  writes  sufficiently  well  if  he  succeeds  in  obtaining  a 
hearing. — Another  difference  is  his  tendency  to  discuss  "  problems  " 
and  to  moralise. 

B.  The  Dramatist. — It  is  under  the  influence  of  this  tendency  ; — 
a  tendency  encouraged  by  the  direct  personal  influence  of  George 
Sand ; — by  the  less  direct  but  not  less  unquestionable  influence  of 
Michelet ; — and  by  the  desire  to  rival  the  in  some  sort  political  suc- 
cesses of  Augier  [Cf.  Les  effrontes  and  the  Fils  de  Giboyer] , — that 
Dumas  invents  a  new  type  of  drama, — of  which  the  Idees  de  madame 
Aubray,  1867, — are  the  first  example. — For  while  Augier  continues  to 
undergo  the  influence  of  Scribe ; — and  moreover  would  be  at  a  loss  to 


528    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTOEY   OF   FEENCH   LITEEATUEE 

and  dilettantism.  On  the  contrary,  the  conquests 
achieved  by  a  social  literature  cannot  be  taken  over  by 
dilettantism  or  naturalism,  since  the  former  is  synonymous 
with  individualism,  and  the  latter  consists  in  the  absolute 
submission  of  the  writer  to  his  subject ;  or  more  exactly, 
in  his  acceptation  of  his  subject.  In  his  eyes  phenomena 
are  what  they  ought  to  be,  and  when  he  has  attained  to 
a  comprehension  of  them,  he  esteems  them  not  merely 
legitimate,  but  "natural,"  and  in  consequence  necessary. 
In  the  second  place,  a  "  social "  literature  has  the  advan- 
tage— in  the  land  of  George  Sand  and  Lamennais,  of 
Voltaire  and  Montesquieu,  of  Bossuet  and  Racine,  of 


throw  it  off; — Dumas  frees  himself  from  it ; — and  each  of  his  plays 
becomes  a  "  thesis," — of  which  the  personages  are  merely  the  spokes- 
men ; — and  the  plot  the  demonstration. — In  general  the  object  of  the 
thesis  is  to  demonstrate  the  iniquity  of  the  Code  [Cf .  F.  Moreau,  Le  code 
civil  et  le  Theatre  contemporain]  ; — the  causes  pleaded  more  especi- 
ally being  the  right  to  prove  affiliation,  the  right  of  divorce,  and  the 
identical  responsibility  of  the  man  and  the  woman  in  cases  of  seduction 
or  adultery. — The  Prefaces  to  the  complete  edition  of  the  Plays  [that 
of  1866-1870]  ;— and  that  it  must  not  be  overlooked  that  they  are 
posterior  by  ten  years  to  the  plays  they  precede, — and  that  they 
correspond  to  the  new  conception  of  his  art  adopted  by  the  author  of 
the  Idees  de  madame  Aubray. 

It  was  in  conformity  with  these  new  principles, — strengthened  in 
him  by  the  spectacle  of  the  events  of  1870-1871  [Cf.  Lettres  de 
Junius,  1870-1871] , — that  Alexandre  Dumas  wrote  La  Visite  de 
noces,  1871  ; — la  Princesse  Georges,  1871 ; — la  Femme  de  Claude, 
1873 ; — three  plays  in  at  least  two  of  which  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  "  thesis "  is  detrimental  to  the  dramatic  value  of  the  work ; 
— but,  on  the  contrary,  the  obligation  of  "  demonstrating  "  has  rid  the 
drama  of  several  embarrassing  conventions. — They  reintroduced  into 
the  drama  a  simplicity  of  action  Scribe  had  banished  from  it ; — since 
he  trusted  solely  for  success  to  the  unexpectedness  of  his  combinations. 
— They  further  introduced  a  passionate  element, — that  would  be 
sought  for  in  vain  in  Augier's  comedies  or  dramas, — in  which  it  is 
never  clear  why  the  personages  act  in  this  way  or  that  rather  than  in 
some  other  way. — And  finally,  they  restored  to  the  drama, — the 


MODERN   TIMES  529 

Montaigne  and  even  of  Eabelais, — of  being  in  conformity 
with  the  traditions  four  or  five  centuries  old  of  the  French 
genius.  Omnia  quce  loquitur  populus  iste  conjuratio  est ! 
Whatever  does  not  express  in  the  language  of  the 
generality  truths  that  interest  or  concern  the  generality, 
as  well  as  whatever  is  not  clear,  is  not  French ; 
and  it  will  be  remarked  that  it  is  for  this  reason  that 
the  majority  of  our  Romanticists,  and  still  more  of 
our  Dilettantes  are  ignored  by  foreigners.  England  or 
Germany  have  better  writers  of  this  class  among  their 
native  authors  !  On  the  other  hand,  the  socialisation  of 
literature,  if  I  may  venture  on  this  expressive  barbarism, 

literary,  psychological  and  moral  importance, — it  had  been  almost 
wholly  lacking  in  for  a  century  past ; — for  what  is  the  significance  of 
the  Aventuriere,  or  the  Verre  d'eau,  or  of  the  Tour  de  Nesle,  or  even 
of  Marion  Delorme  ? 

C.  The  Moralist. — Of  the  transformation  of  the  "  realist "  into 
the  "moralist," — of  the  Dumas  of  Diane  de  Lys  or  of  the  Dame  aux 
Cornelias, — into  the  Dumas  of  VEtrangere,  1876  ; — of  la  Princesse 
de  Bagdad,  1881 ; — of  Denise,  1885  ; — and  of  Francillon,  1887. — 
That  it  must  be  confessed  that  it  is  a  pity  that  Dumas,  the  moralist, 
is  sometimes  wanting  in  good  sense  ; — more  often  still  in  an  adequate 
knowledge  of  the  questions  he  deals  with ; — and  always  in  moderation. 
— The  deficiencies  of  Dumas'  early  education  are  only  too  perceptible  ; 
— even  in  his  manner  of  stating  the  problems  he  treats  [Cf .  les  Femmes 
qui  tuent  and  les  Femmes  qui  votent]  1880, — or  again  la  Question 
du  divorce,  1880. — After  adapting  them  to  the  requirements  of  the 
stage,  he  solves  too  off-handedly  difficulties  ; — of  which  he  is  blind 
to  the  complexity. — He  nevertheless  did  considerable  good — if  only  in 
passing  frankly  and  resolutely  from  "  naturalism  "  to  "  idealism  "  ; 
without  effort  and  solely  in  consequence  of  the  progress  of  his  reflec- 
tions.— He  was  one  of  the  first  among  his  contemporaries, — following 
an  attitude  he  adopted  in  writing  the  Idees  de  Madame  Aubray  and 
maintained  down  to  Francillon, — to  reunite  art  and  life, — which  it 
had  been  attempted  to  separate. — Doubtless  it  is  to  be  regretted  that 
of  all  his  plays, — those  which  are  sure  to  survive  the  longest  are  his 
"realistic"  dramas, — but  this  accidental  contingency  is  no  objection 
against  his  talent  as  a  dramatist ; — or  against  "  pieces  with  a  pur- 

35 


530    MANUAL    OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   FRENCH   LITERATURE 

has  allowed  us  in  the  past,  not  only,  as  has  been  seen, 
to  resist  foreign  influence,  and  to  assimilate  merely 
such  foreign  elements  as  could  be  made  to  serve  the 
turn  of  our  genius,  but  to  exercise  in  the  world  the 
intellectual  supremacy  we  have  wielded  more  often 
than  any  other  people.  Finally,  if  it  be  essentially 
characteristic  of  a  "social"  literature  that  it  tends,  as 
has  been  said,  towards  "the  perfecting  of  civil  life,"  or, 
as  we  should  say  to-day,  towards  the  progress  of  civilisa- 
tion, what  more  could  we  add  ?  For  four  hundred  years 
our  literature  and  even  our  language  have  enabled  us  to 
promote  both  the  greatness  of  France  and  the  common 


pose  "  ; — or  against  ,the  generousness  of  his  effort, — and  still  less 
against  the  idea — more  generally  accepted  than  ever  at  present — 
that  art  has  "  a  social  function." 

3.  THE  WORKS. — Omitting  his  early  novels,  which  are  now  almost 
unreadable,  his  works  comprise  : 

(1)  The  Dame  aux  camelias  (novel),  1848 ; — and  the  Affaire  Clemen- 
ceau,  1886  ; 

(2)  His  Plays,  the  last  edition  of  which  in  7  volumes,  Paris,  1890- 
1893,  Calmann  Levy  includes  :  la  Dame  aux  camelias,  1852  ;    Diane 
de  Lys,  1853  ;  le  Bijou  de  la  reine,  1855  (in  verse)  ; — the  Demi-Monde , 
1855 ;  la  Question  d?  argent,   1857 ;  le  Fils  naturel,  1858 :   Un  Pere 
prodigue,   1859 ; — V Ami  des  femmes,    1864 ;    les   Idees   de  Madame 
Aubray,    1867; — Une  visite  de  noces,   1871;  la  Princesse  Georges, 
1871 ;    la    Femme    de    Claude,    1873 ; — Monsieur    Alphonse,    1873 ; 
VFjtrangere,  1876 ; — la  Princesse   de  Bagdad,  1881 ;   Denise,  1885 ; 
Francillon,  1887.     To  the  above  are  to  be  added  two  volumes  entitled  : 
le  Theatre  des  autres,  in  which  he  is  responsible  to  at  least  as  great  an 
extent  as  Augier  for  les  Lionnes  pauvres  or  as  Barriere  for  les  Faux 
bonsJwmmes.     The   other  pieces    are    le    Supplice  d'une  femme   [in 
collaboration  with   Emile   de   Girardin] ,    1865 ;    Helo'ise  Paranquet 
[in   collaboration   with    Armand   Durantin] ,  1866 ;  —  le  Filleul   de 
Pompignac,  1869 ;  la  Comtesse  Romani    [in  collaboration  with   M. 
Fould] ,   1877 ; — and  les  Danicheff  [in  collaboration  with  M.  Pierre 
Corvin] ,  1879. 

He  also  "  recast "  some  of  George  Sand's  pieces,  the  best  known 
being  the  Marquis  de  Villemer,  1864. 


MODERN    TIMES  531 

good  of  humanity.  Who  would  not  sacrifice  to  this 
generous  ideal  something  of  his  "  individualism "  and 
the  strange  vanity  of  being  alone  in  admiring  and  under- 
standing himself? 


(3)  In  addition  to  his  novels  and  plays  Dumas  is  the  author : — of 
three  volumes  entitled  Entr'actes,  187&-1879,  and  one  volume  entitled 
Nouveaux  Entr'actes,  1890,  in  which  the  majority  of  his  brochures 
and  fugitive  writings  have  been  reprinted  under  his  own  supervi- 
sion ; — of  la  Question  du  divorce,  1880 ; — and  of  Une  lettre  a  M. 
Rivet,  depute,  sur  la  recherche  de  la  paternite,  1883. 


THE   END. 


Cfje  (ft  r £01)  am 

UNWIN   BKOTIIERS 
WOKING   AND   LONDON 


